Ronin
by CSHayden
Summary: A prequelcontinuation of "Tengu", Kirin goes from a clanless wanderer to the unlikely suitor of a carefree thrillseeker.
1. Default Chapter

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly T. appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

_**From the journal of Kirin, teacher and weapons master, formerly of Ishimura**_

_**Kobe, 1995**_

_It was a curious turn of events that led me to the Tengu. I had been wandering like the masterless samurai of old after I left the pain of Ishimura. My love of learning made me roost near universities where I could listen in on classes and use the library at night but after a few years, even that paled. I found that I missed the companionship of my kind but I could not yet force myself to return home. Instead, I let the winds take me wherever they would and, as chance would have it, I found myself gliding over the Kobe region, surveying the massive earthquake damage. I helped where I could – discreetly, because unlike Ishimura, humans here were unaccustomed to gargoyles. I daresay there were a few reports of miraculous rescues due to my timely intervention and the thought of this pleased me as I sailed off into the mountains. The media had reported a land slide that was causing flooding in the low-lying areas below so I thought it was worth checking out. What I found was not what I expected. _

_A female gargoyle with long silver hair was struggling to cross a slope of newly-fallen rock. I wondered why she did not fly past the dangerous obstruction but on closer inspection, I could see that one of her wings was gnarled and twisted. She had a large bag slung on her back with plants and other things in it. I hesitated – I had not seen another gargoyle for years – but then the decision was taken out of my hands as the ground trembled with another aftershock. The female cried out as her footing slipped and without thinking, I swooped down to save her. I apologized for the abruptness of our meeting and introduced myself as I carried us both aloft. _

_Her name was O-tama and I could see by the subtle lines on her face that she was my elder by a few decades. She spoke with the soft drawl common to western Japan_ _and I had to listen closely to understand her. Without going into much detail, I explained that I was a traveler from Ishimura and had decided to stay for a while to help out with the earthquake damage. She gave me a long withering stare like an owl searching for a mouse in the grass, clearly deciding whether to trust me or not. In the end, she chose to direct me to the Tengu village secluded high in the Rokko_ _Mountains._

_I knew of the Tengu, of course. They had suffered badly when the atomic bomb went off in Nagasaki_ _in 1945 and had spent some time in Ishimura recovering. I was only a young hatchling barely out of the rookery when they were finally strong enough to go off on their own. Our arrival caused considerable commotion; swords were drawn before O-tama was able to vouch for my good intentions. She was the clan healer and a female of high status in her own right, besides being the mate of Takamatsu, leader of the Tengu. I put myself in her charge and soon redeemed myself by being able to take over some of the heavy tasks. Most of the Tengu were older gargoyles and several had been badly injured in the earthquake With my help, the burden of rebuilding was eased and they welcomed my assistance. _

_After so many years of solitude, I found it difficult to let my guard down. My stay with the Tengu was tenuous at best; I had overheard some of them talking about me and complaining that I was not very sociable. The truth was that as much as I wanted to be part of gargoyle society, I did not want to risk being hurt again. It took three rather small troublemakers to help me find the way. _

Sweat trickled down the back of Kirin's neck as he balanced the door in the groove. It was a tricky job but Goro had been satisfied with his work on the other buildings so the dappled green gargoyle had been left to finish O-tama's hut on his own. The breeze shifted, blowing a wisp of red-gold hair across his face and he braced himself to keep the door from moving. Until it was mounted correctly between the upper and lower rollers, he couldn't tighten it in place and until it was tightened, he didn't dare let go of it.

"O-tama, O-tama!" The smallest of the Tengu's three hatchlings shrieked at the top of his lungs. "Tak's picking on me!"

"I am not!"

"You are so!"

Kirin didn't have the luxury of seeing just what they were doing but he'd seen enough of the Tengu hatchlings to know they were up to their usual hijinks. Takakura, the ruddy ringleader, had a bad habit of picking on the others when he was bored and feathered Mozu, as the smallest, was his favorite target since tall and gangly Tancho tended to fight back. "O-tama is not here," he called out. "She went to pick herbs with Miza. Go and see if they are back yet."

"But Miza's not there!" Mozu's voice was beginning to panic.

"Can't hide behind your mother's skirts now, can you, featherhead?"

"Tancho! Help me!"

"You leave Mozu alone!" There was a flurry of grunts and scuffles as bodies hit the ground and began to roll around in the dirt.

Ignoring the squabble, Kirin grimaced as the door finally slid into place. He tested the smooth motion as it moved in and out, nodding approvingly. "That should please her," he said as he slid the door shut and started to turn away. "Now, what seems to be the prob--?"

Rolling around in front of the hut steps, Tancho manage to jam his foot into Tak's stomach and kicked Tak off, propelling him away a little harder than perhaps intended. Tak careened off of Mozu, tripped on the porch steps, and collided face-first into Kirin's newly hung door, his long nose and both arms tearing through the washi covering of the latticework.

Kirin grabbed Tak by the back of his grey tunic before he could damage the door further and turning, snatched up the other two before they could escape. He curled his lip and growled low in the back of his throat. The Three went limp in his grasp like a trio of pups in the mouth of a mother dog. He gave them a firm shake and plunked them down hard on the porch step.

"Don't… move… a muscle," he admonished them each in turn. Glaring at them, he began to examine the damage. It was not as bad as he first feared; the door itself was still balanced in its track and once he replaced the rice paper, no one would ever know. Mozu was sniffling behind him and it brought back the sound of his old rookery keeper's voice in his head. _'Never lose your temper with hatchlings, Kirin-kun,'_ Miya had said sternly_. 'You tower above the little ones, you great fierce thing – if you make them afraid of you, they will learn out of fear, not for the love of learning.'_

Sighing so that his fishlike whiskers twirled around like wind chimes, Kirin scowled at the hatchlings. All three of them were staring up at him with huge eyes. Tancho had a protective arm around little Mozu but Tak had his chin out in hopes that no one would notice how much his knees were knocking.

"Oh, for Buddha's sake," Kirin grumbled, "I am not going to skin you and eat you."

Mozu stuck his feathered head out from behind Tancho's back and quavered, "Y-you're not?"

"Of course not." He resumed carefully trimming the damaged paper off the door frame. "I'd have to have a jug of rice wine to wash you down with. Raw hatchling leaves a nasty taste in the mouth." He caught their wide-eyed expressions out of the corner of his eye and fought the urge to smirk.

"He's trying to scare us," Takakura scoffed, folding his arms over his scrawny chest. "He's just making it up."

"Now cooked hatchling," Kirin continued as he took a throwing knife out of his leather gauntlet, "tastes like chicken." He began to carefully excise the tatters from the bamboo frame. The sharp knife hissed as it slid through the washi like hot butter. Flicking a glance their way, Kirin could see they were all staring at him with wide, round eyes. "A hungry gargoyle would rather eat the moon than the likes of you."

"Huh?" Tak tilted his head to one side. "That's crazy – no one can fly that high."

Kirin raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "You mean, you've never heard the story?"

"Story?" Tancho asked, his eyes going wider still. "What story?"

"Once upon a time when the world was young and magical, there was a very hungry gargoyle." Kirin kept working as he dropped into story teller mode. "He was a big gargoyle, which is not the same as being fat, and it took a lot of food to fill him up. One night, no matter what he ate, nothing satisfied him. He ate a lake full of fishes and washed it down with barrels of rice wine. He ate a whole farm of vegetables, even the spinach, which proves he was really hungry. Finally, he looked up at the moon, which in those days, as everybody knew, it was made of _mochi_. 'Surely, such a big _mochi_ will be big enough to fill me up!' he said to himself.

"So the hungry gargoyle unfurled his wings and leaped up into the sky. He flew higher and higher. It took half the night but he finally reached the moon. He took a bite of it and to his surprise, it was sweet! He took another bite. It was yummy! The moon wasn't just _mochi_, it was filled with delicious red bean jam! Pretty soon, the hungry gargoyle was eating hand over fist. Finally, when he had eaten the moon almost to the rim, he felt completely full. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as too many sweets. His tummy rumbled and bubbled and then there was a huge, enormous, earthshaking belch--and the hungry gargoyle exploded into a million bits. They spread all across the night sky and began to shine and sparkle and twinkle like stars. Because," Kirin said, raising one furry eyebrow and smiling slightly, "gargoyles are really just diamonds in the rough."

"What does that mean?" Tak asked skeptically. "Goro and Makino belch all the time and they don't explode."

"Maybe," Mozu began tentatively, "maybe it means that sometimes things are more than they seem?" He ducked back around Tancho but Kirin merely smiled at him.

"Very well done," Kirin said as he collected his trimmings. "It's a bit like this door. At first, it looked like a real mess but if you three help, we could have it fixed in no time." He took a roll of rice paper from the basket of tools. "Mozu, do you know if O-tama keeps some water in her hut?" The small hatchling brightened and nodded vigorously, raising his crest. "Good – go and fetch a cupful of water and a small bowl. We need to thin out the glue to use with this paper."

While the small hatchling scampered off, Kirin beckoned to the other two. "Now both of you come here and hold the edges down for me so they don't curl." He took a homemade wooden ruler out of the bucket and measured the individual panel. "Let's see…. we need to cut five pieces at seven inches wide by ten inches wide." He traced off a rectangle, creasing the lines on the paper with the edge of his talon and then handed the ruler to Tancho. "Here you go – do it just like I did, seven by ten."

"Seven by ten?" Tancho repeated, looking curiously at the ruler. He glanced at Takakura who shrugged. Tancho chewed his lip and stared at the measuring stick pensively.

Kirin had seen this look before but never on hatchlings as old as the Three. "The long lines represent inches," he explained carefully. "Just count them off." Putting words to actions, Kirin pointed out the numbers with a talon tip. "See? 1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7. See? Easy, isn't it?" He helped Tancho trace the line onto the paper and then squared off the ruler at a right angle to the line. "Now, we need ten inches on this side. What number comes after seven?"

Tancho squirmed. "This one?" he asked pointing at the next line on the ruler.

"And what is it called?" Kirin prompted.

"He doesn't know, all right?" Takakura blurted out. He crossed his arms back over his chest and sulked. "Nobody tells us anything. We're just stupid hatchlings."

"Ah." Kirin traced off the longer line, making sure Tancho saw. "See where I stopped? That's 8… 9… 10 – ten inches. Now put another ten inch line on the other side and a seven inch line on the bottom." While Tancho busied himself with that, Kirin commented to Tak, "You may be hatchlings, but I doubt you're stupid. All I've seen you Three do is run wild all over the place – doesn't anyone give you your lessons?"

"Sometimes," Tancho admitted, "if they don't have anything better to do."

Mozu came out with a bowl of water in his hands. "When it's cold, we have lessons," he offered. "Mostly it's Doryo reading from the clan scrolls."

"Boring…." Takakura snorted.

"I see." Kirin nodded approvingly at Tancho. "Very good – now let Tak have a turn." He waited until the two had traded places and he had Tak repeating the task that his rookery brother had just completed. Mozu watched intently and when his turn came, he did it without hesitation. Kirin traced off one last panel and cut them all out with his knife. "Tancho, look in that bucket for a brush." He glanced around, spying a toy lying just under the porch steps. "You know, if we had a ball, I know a counting game that the hatchlings in Ishimura play."

All three hatchlings perked up. "We haven't had any new games in a while," Tak said, trying not to sound too interested. "How do you play?"

"First," Kirin said as he took the brush from Tancho and began to apply the watered down glue to the edges of the washi paper, "we finish repairing this door. Then if that ball turns up, we will play a game."

Suddenly, Kirin had three extra sets of eager helpful hands.

Having caught a glimpse of silver hair through the tree branches, Kirin kept a straight face and gave nothing away as O-tama and Miza came into the clearing so that they could surprise the hatchlings. The Three had caught on to the number game very quickly so he had reversed the order on them and had them chanting it backwards. Mozu bounced the ball off his feathered head and passed it to Tancho, all the while trilling in a high, musical voice that was easily heard over the other boys:

"_Five_

perching crows

_four_

low clouds

_three_

wild geese

_two _

rows of willows

_one_

moon in the sky."

Takakura whooped as he caught the ball from Tancho and kicked the makeshift ball high into the air. "This is a fun game," he called out enthusiastically. "Let's play it again!"

"Very nicely done, young ones!" O-tama clapped her hands together. "We could hear you singing all the way from the kitchen!"

Mozu ran and threw his arms around Miza's legs and looked up at her with his head against her hip. "We weren't too loud, were we, _obaasan_?"

"A little," Miza said gently as she ruffled the downy feathers on his head, "but a happy noise is always a welcome sound." There was no doubt that she was Mozu's mother; she was tan-colored with a slim beak and feathered wings tipped in black and had the same head crest and golden eyes like her son. "Are you and your brothers ready for a snack? I have some steamed dumplings and pickled plums waiting for you."

"Yay!" Takakura and Tancho galloped past, leaving the ball lying forlornly in the dust. "Race you!" Mozu sprinted after them, easily catching up before they all disappeared into the trees. Miza merely shook her head and laughed as she followed behind.

"Ah, well," Kirin said as he began to pick up the area, "I hope they leave something to eat for the rest of us."

"Not to worry, Kirin-_san_ – there will be plenty for all." O-tama came and sat down on the edge of her porch. "Miza and I were surprised to see you with the hatchlings, much less to be playing a game with them"

"It is nothing." Kirin shrugged carelessly as he collected his tools. "Hatchlings are hatchlings, whether it be here or Ishimura."

"Our males often lose their temper with the Three. You seemed quite at ease with them." She tilted her head and regarded him thoughtfully. "One might think that you have had some experience with children."

Kirin gave her a withering look but the Tengu healer merely gazed back at him. He was beginning to learn that while O-tama might appear weak with her withered wing, her inner strength more than made up for it. Sighing, he sat down on the porch besides her. "Before I became a weapons master," he admitted, "I worked in the rookery as a teacher. Old habits die hard, I suppose."

"Ah – I thought so!" O-tama smiled. "We take turns teaching the Three but everyone has their own ideas about what they should be learning. Doryo bores them with clan lore, Bana tries to hammer good manners into their stubborn heads, Goro encourages them to play in the mud -- it is no wonder that our hatchlings run wild."

"They are not so bad," Kirin conceded. "I was making them help repair your door when I discovered that they did not know their numbers. I was teaching them a counting game before you and Miza came."

"We heard you," O-tama chuckled. "None of you were musical but, as Miza said, you made a happy noise."

Smiling in spite of himself, Kirin admitted, "I suppose that is true. They seemed to like it."

"I think you enjoyed it as well."

"Perhaps." He toyed with the torn hem of his tunic. "I always liked teaching the little ones. There's something about the way their eyes light up when they catch onto a new idea. It's –" He realized that he was saying too much and bit his lip to keep from talking further. That life was in his past and there was no point in dwelling on it.

O-tama reached out and gently brushed her knuckles across his brow ridges. He flinched but it was merely a platonic gesture, calm and soothing. "You loved teaching," she stated matter-of-factly. "Why did you not say so before?"

"I gave up teaching to become a weapons master," Kirin said at last. "Everyone was pleased. They all thought my size was better-suited to being a warrior than to being a teacher." He tried to keep the resentment out of his voice but somehow she picked it up.

"But you missed it."

"Yes."

The Tengu healer said nothing but continued to caress his brow ridges. Kirin found himself leaning towards her as he relaxed. Gargoyles were inherently tactile creatures and after so many years living away from his own clan, he found he missed even the smallest social interactions. The first contact that a hatchling had fresh out of the egg was the touch of its mother's lips on its brow. No matter how old a gargoyle became, it was a touch that always got a response. He nearly groaned when she moved on to brush the loose hair out of his eyes.

Breaking the silence, O-tama ventured, "You know, we have been taking it in turns to teach the Three but it has been slow going. Doryo has no patience, Bana and Kiyo get too easily distracted, and too few of us know enough written Japanese to be able to teach it." She turned his head with her fingertips. "You have worked willingly besides us for many weeks now. Takamatsu feels that you would be a worthy addition to our clan. If I speak to him, would you consider becoming teacher to the Tengu?"

Kirin's eyes widened. "It is a generous offer," he said slowly. "I do not know what to say."

"You would be free to teach the hatchlings as you like," O-tama continued. "Takamatsu and I feel that the Three should know more than just the traditional clan lore. We are an old clan but they are young and they should be prepared to face whatever their future holds." She looked at him shrewdly. "You have lived in the world, Kirin-_san_. Can you make them ready?"

Staring at her, Kirin's mind was racing. He hadn't taught students as young as the Three in over ten years but he had to admit that he'd enjoyed interacting with them. It was clear that their eager minds needed activity just as much as their growing bodies. He looked at the ball in the dust wistfully. "I suppose," he said with careful consideration, "we could try it and see how it goes."

O-tama clapped her hands. "Wonderful! I will speak to Takamatsu at once."

_The very next night, construction began on a schoolroom and I was wholeheartedly welcomed into the Tengu clan. At first the Three resented giving up so much of their freedom for education but I kept my lessons playful and interesting. I suspected that their rambunctious behavior was due to boredom and soon even mischievous Takakura was drawn into his studies. We concentrated on the basics – reading, writing, math and sciences. In time, even some of the adults began to sit in on the lessons when I began teaching the Three the basics of kanji. Since the Tengu lived near two major port towns, they had no objections when I began teaching English as well._

_I took care of my own needs but the Tengu began to show their gratitude in subtle ways. Small comforts would appear in the schoolroom like a thick padded futon long enough for my tall form and colorful cushions to sit upon while reading. I was welcomed into the males' council and ate my meals with them instead of by myself. I began to feel content in my new life but I was still uncomfortable around the females. The hurt caused by my former mate's betrayal ran deep and I did not know if I would ever recover from it. _

_Fortunately, O-tama knew of a cure._

_**In the village of the Tengu**_

**Spring 1996**

Miza knocked politely on the doorframe. "A thousand pardons, Kirin-_san_," she called out, "but O-tama was wondering if the Three could be excused from their lessons early. The berry patch is ready to be picked and she wants them to help her harvest them before the birds eat them all."

"Ooh, sensei!" Mozu trilled excitedly. "You haven't tasted anything so good as _obaasan's _berry tarts!" He beamed at Miza who returned his adoring look.

"Really?" Kirin closed his book and began to shuffle the papers together on the table. "Finish writing your kanji and you can go."

The Three hastily finished and tossed their papers on the table, splattering the wet ink. Kirin shook his head and cleaned up the mess. "Well, it's sloppy but still readable, I suppose," he commented to himself.

"I'm so sorry to have been a distraction."

Kirin looked up to see Miza standing inside the room. Feathered and slender, she was one of Takamatsu's offspring from an earlier mating, her mother having died in Nagasaki. O-tama had helped raise Miza and treated her as her own daughter. "It is nothing," he said dismissively. "They were getting restless. I was thinking of taking them outside to play games. O-tama will get better use out of their energy."

"Very true," Miza agreed. "I was wondering, Kirin-_san_, if you would like to use the bath house while they are gone? I have filled the tub because I know how messy the Three will be when they get back."

It was a tempting offer, Kirin reflected. He had been bathing in the hot springs or the river because he didn't want to impose on his hosts' generosity. "I don't know," he said slowly, "I'm sure that one of the others might –"

"Oh, they are all busy," Miza replied. "If you like, while you're soaking, I can wash and mend your tunic." She pointed to it. "I've wanted to fix the rip in that hem for ages."

Kirin looked ruefully at his clothes. He was still wearing the same tunic that he'd left Ishimura in; true, turning to stone and back kept a gargoyle and his garments clean enough but years of wear and tear had taken a toll on his garment. "Well," he said finally, "it has been a long time since I've had a civilized bath. I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"Good!" Miza smiled, crinkling her eyes. "I'll fetch a spare robe for you while you get started." She bowed and left the schoolroom before him.

The bath house was located in a sheltered nook in the mountainside and screened from prying eyes by several red cedars. Water was supplied by an ingenious system of pipes into a double-walled tub on a raised platform. The outside was fitted with wooden planks and ceramic tiles lined the inside, providing perfect insulation in all types of weather. Kirin dipped out a bucket of water and undressed, hanging his tunic near the door where Miza could get at it without having to enter. He poured the bucket over his head, reveling in the warm water sluicing down his body. There was a handy bag of rice bran soap to use and Kirin applied it vigorously, relishing the tingling sensation of being truly clean. Several buckets of rinse water later, he was stretched out neck-deep in the steaming tub with his head propped up on the edge. The warmth seeped into his bones, lulling him almost to sleep when something cool and smelling of herbs trickled into his hair.

"Stop that!" Kirin exclaimed indignantly as he snapped his wings around his waist modestly and caused a small tsunami of water to slosh over the edge of the tub. "What are you doing?"

"Washing your hair," Miza answered pertly. "You may not be able to see the back of your head, Kirin-_san_, but the rest of us are tired of this untidy mop. It looks like birds have been nesting in it." She began to work the shampoo into an aromatic lather, digging her fingers into his red-gold locks. "Do not worry – I do O-tama's hair all the time. I will be gentle with you."

Closing his eyes as soap trickled down the sides of his face, Kirin protested, "That is not the point! I do not want you doing it!"

"I do not mind, Kirin-_san_," Miza laughed, "but if you prefer, Bana has wanted to get her claws into your hair for ages."

The thought of the plump, boisterous older female with the parrot beak barging into the bath house while he was naked was more than Kirin could stomach. "Very well," he said slowly, "you might as well finish what you've started."

The feathered female gave a trilling laugh and continued what she was doing. Her fingers massaged his scalp as they threaded around his antlered horns. His head and neck often ached from the weight of them so he found her ministrations very soothing. He heard her dip out another bucketful of water and tilted his head back as she poured it over him. She shielded his eyes with her hand to keep the soap out and combed his hair back with her fingers.

"There," Miza said softly, "that gets the top half done. I'll work my way down now."

True to her word, Kirin only felt an occasional tug on his hair as she worked on his tangled mane. He settled back in the steaming water and let his mind drift. Females had been a difficult thing to get used to again. During the terrible period after his mate left him, Kirin had heard the Ishimuran females gossiping – Ikeike had made sure everyone was sympathetic to her plight and set him up as the villain instead of the victim. As result, he had become bitter and distrustful of the entire gender. Only O-tama had managed to get past his resentment and to win his trust. It was sad, really, he reflected as he listened to Miza humming as she worked, because some of his closest friends growing up had been female. He didn't think that he'd ever have that kind of companionship again.

He dozed off again only to be re-awakened briefly by Miza's hands rubbing his neck and shoulders. Her fingers moved up and slowly stroked the curve of his ears. Kirin rumble-purred low in his chest and drifted off in a pleasant dream or so he thought. The water rippled and a warm body joined him in the bath. Innocent touches soon became intimate caresses and before Kirin was fully conscious, he and Miza were entangled in a lover's knot. He tried to pull away from her but Miza had her legs and tail wrapped tight around him.

"How did this happen?" he demanded. "Why are you doing this?"

"Does it matter?" She gave a throaty chuckle. "Parts of you do not object."

"Mi-za," he growled as he rose, lifting her over the tub's edge with the intent of stopping things before they went too far. Miza was proving to be persistent. "You are a mated female. We should not be doing this."

"I am free to give my favors where I wish, Kirin-_san_," she said coyly. "Are you going to be so rude as to refuse my gift?"

"But I –" He grimaced, baring his fangs. His body was betraying him and she knew it.

"Shhh…" Miza put her fingers over his lips. "You need this." She flexed her hips, hissing as she drew him further inside her. "And so do I."

Kirin tried to hold back but a long-denied mating drive was driving him further into lust. It was wrong, terribly wrong but passion was overriding his senses. With a stifled roar, Kirin gave in to his body's needful urges and lowered Miza to the bathhouse floor.

Afterwards, they lay panting and exhausted on the wooden floor. Kirin barely had enough strength to drape his wing across their naked bodies. "So," he asked breathlessly, "just what did I do to deserve this?"

"You've done many things for us," Miza answered simply, "and you've been very kind to my Mozu. He's never been happier and I appreciate that." She smiled and stroked back the hair falling over his eyes. "Goro has always been disappointed in him, because Mozu is so small."

"Goro?" Kirin raised himself up on one elbow. "He is Mozu's father?" Goro had been one of the first Tengu males to call him friend and they had grown to respect each other. It was disturbing to think that he'd encroached on Goro's territory.

"It is all right, Kirin-_san_," Miza said, seeing the panic in his eyes. "We Tengu have open matings. My second egg, the one that is in the rookery now, I had with Makino." She let her fingers drift over his chest lazily. "Perhaps when I come into season again, you would like to do the honors, _neh_?"

Ice water froze in his veins and Kirin pushed away from her. "I'm sorry," he said shakily as he rose to his feet and stumbled to the door. "Thank you, Miza, but I –" He turned and bolted from the bathhouse as if demons were chasing him.

The schoolroom was dark, lit only by the pale column of moonlight streaming in through the open door. Kirin had been curled on his side staring at the woodgrain of the wall for what seemed to be hours. Dark memories haunted him from an earlier time. He could hear distant voices as clearly as if they were in the room with him.

_"—the differences in gargoyle and human metabolisms aside, you would seem to have some form of testosterone deficiency, possibly hormonal dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis which would affect the production of –"_

_"Please, brother – I would not ask if there was any other way! An open flight would shame Ikeike too much. I cannot do that to her."_

_"This council has been convened by for the purpose of dissolving the formal union of weapons master Kirin and wingleader Ikeike. We will now hear the formal reasons for this action –"_

_"—I had to be fertilized by another male! Kirin is no better than a eunuch! I demand that our mating be undone!" _

Afterwards, everyone had said that Kirin had acted honorably in the face of dishonor as he accepted the council's verdict stoically like the samurai of old. The fact of the matter was that he had been too emotionally paralyzed to do anything else. Everything that had ever mattered to him – a mate, children, a future – it had all been swept away in an instant and he had never said one word or ever shed a tear. He'd kept his private shame bottled up inside him where no one else could find it … until now.

The floor creaked and a soft blanket covered him. Cloth rustled as someone kneeled besides him. "Kirin-_san_?" O-tama asked in a voice just above a whisper. "Are you all right?"

He shivered and said nothing.

"I am truly sorry," she continued. "You spend so much time alone; we thought perhaps you might enjoy pillowing with Miza. She is afraid that she offended you."

"No." Kirin licked his lips. "She was quite wonderful. Tell her it was my fault, not hers."

"What is wrong then?" She reached over and stroked the damp curls from his face. "You are only making yourself ill, acting like this."

"You never asked me why I left Ishimura."

Her fingers brushed his brow ridges. "I assumed you would tell me when you were ready."

"Miza said—" his voice broke, "—she said the breeding season is open here."

"Yes?" Her voice was puzzled. "I know that it is only on certain nights in Ishimura but we do not have the numbers to be strictly monogamous here. A breeding female is encouraged to have offspring by more than just one male."

"She offered that to me." A shudder shook his body. "I cannot have that honor."

"Why? I asked if there had been any problems but Miza was most complementary. She would have not offered otherwise."

"I can't."

"Is there another female?"

"No." Taking a deep breath, he forged ahead. "I can't breed."

O-tama's fingers paused. "But she said that you performed well — that you gave her much pleasure!"

"When the clan healers in Ishimura can't diagnose a problem, we consult with human doctors in the village." His voice dropped. "I cannot father a child, O-tama. There is something wrong with me."

"Your seed is weak?"

Kirin gave a half-hearted shrug. "I suppose – the doctors said many things that I did not understand and wanted even less to hear."

Unexpectedly, O-tama curled up behind him and stretched her arm around him with her chin on his shoulder. She seemed to realize that how difficult it had been to tell her. Several minutes passed before she spoke again – he could tell that she was considering his situation very seriously. "I knew something had wounded you but I never imagined this."

"Please don't tell anyone," he said hoarsely. "Everyone knew in Ishimura. The whispers, the stares -- I couldn't bear it."

"That is why you left?"

His voice sounded hollow in his ears. "Yes."

"What the healer hears is for the healer's ears," she answered back. "Do not worry, Kirin-_san_. If anyone asks, I will say that your heart was broken and that is true enough, _neh_?"

"Truer than you know," he admitted.

"Then that is all that will ever be said." O-tama began to rub his back and shoulders with the blanket. "Your skin is like ice, Kirin-_san_. I will have a brazier lit in here." She dropped a dark blue yukata with a white pattern in front of him. "Put this on, please, while I take care of that." Taking a firm grip on his arm, O-tama pulled him up to a sitting position. "You will be dressed when I get back, _neh_?"

Kirin felt like a wayward hatchling being lectured but did as O-tama asked. It was clear that she felt that he'd spent enough time feeling sorry for himself. There was a chorus of anxious voices outside and he sighed, knowing that a ring of curious Tengu that had been lurking at a discreet distance. He belted up the robe and padded over to the window overlooking the gorge.

As Kirin watched the rushing water below, he realized how close he'd come to sinking into that dark depression that he'd been in back in Ishimura. Until Miza mentioned wanting to share her mating season with him, Kirin had locked that personal shame away but apparently he would never be free of it.

"Come along, boys," O-tama said quietly. "Carry in the brazier and put it next to the table." Kirin cast his eyes towards the door to see the Tengu healer carrying a covered tray while Tancho carried a small brazier and Mozu brought in a pail of coal. They were wearing clean tunics but Kirin could still see traces of berry stains on their fingers and lips.

"I see the berry picking was good," Kirin commented as he settled down on his usual cushion at the table. "Did any of them make it to the kitchen?"

"Bana and Kiyo are sorting through the baskets now," O-tama commented as she set down her tray and dismissed the hatchlings. "It was a good harvest. You see," she said as she picked up a bottle and a wide-toothed comb, "I've been tending this particular grove of bushes for many seasons. The human farmers around here would never attempt to grow this variety. They would say that the ground is too rocky or the mountains are too cold or the weather is too wet. In fact, I got the original plant from a farmer's compost pile. Its branches were broken and battered."

The warm scent of wintergreen oil filled the air as O-tama rubbed it into his hair. "If it is so much trouble to grow," Kirin winced as she began to slide the comb through his tangles, "why bother with it?"

"Everything has its own possibility, Kirin-_san_," O-tama said simply. "As long as there is life, it is worth nurturing and by doing so, nothing is impossible. Perhaps you came to the Tengu to begin your own healing, _neh_?"

"I—" Kirin shook his head, stunned by the directness of her logic, "I do not know."

"Then that is where we shall start."

_**To be continued in Part II of "Ronin" …..**_


	2. Part II

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly T. appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

**Part II**

**_From the journal of Kirin, teacher and weapons master, formerly of Ishimura_**

_In time, I came to accept my place in Tengu life. Things were awkward between Miza and me for a time but we eventually became friends. Like O-tama, Miza was gentle and easy to talk to. She was the rookery keeper here as was my friend Sakaki, back in Ishimura. It was essential that we work together; her duties as keeper and mine as teacher were dependent on each other. We did not speak of the incident in the bath house and kept things on a purely platonic level but the memories lingered._

_The seasons turned and soon it became time for the eggs in the Tengu rookery to hatch. There were five; apparently Bana had laid two, not uncommon among mature females. Since there was no room for the clan inside the tight confines of the rookery, a former silver mine, the eggs were moved to the main meeting hall where they rocked gently in their padded boxes. _

_Everyone was hovering excitedly around them but I stood back in the shadows. I smiled and nodded and to all appearances, shared in their joy but inside I could not help but think of the egg that was meant to be mine – the child that I should have been eagerly waiting for. Faraway in distant Ishimura, Ikeike's egg would be hatching. I had arranged for that egg to be and I felt responsible for it. Even though my ex-mate had made it brutally clear that we were through, I would have liked to have been there. _

_I felt cheated._

_**In the village of the Tengu**_

_**Spring, 1998**_

As the eggs rocked violently, the Tengu clan gathered around them. It had the air of a festival dance, Kirin mused, as he watched from a far corner with his students. He had made the mistake of mentioning to O-tama that he had played the _shakuhachi_ flute when he was younger and she immediately arranged for music to be performed during the hatching. Luckily, the Tengu encouraged music as a pastime during the long Japanese winter so Kirin was joined by two elderly females playing the _koto_ as well as his own students. Tancho, while tone-deaf as a singer, had surprisingly good rhythm as did Takakura. Mozu's talent was whistling; he provided a treble descant to Kirin's flute.

The females knelt facing the eggs. Each egg bore faded ink where the rookery keeper had marked its parentage with a soft bamboo brush. The males stood behind them, thrumming low in their throats. Kirin nodded to Tancho and Takakura who began a soft rhythm on their drums. There was a sharp crack as the first of new hatchlings chipped through its shell. Old Sakura clapped her hands over her _koto_ and touched her prayerful hands to her forehead in a gesture of thanksgiving. Mozu couldn't contain his curiosity and climbed up behind Kirin on his stool, standing on tiptoe and leaning over his teacher's shoulder.

"Which one is it?" Kirin asked quietly.

"I can't tell," Mozu reported. "Two other eggs have cracked – no, three!"

"Very good," Kirin murmured back. "It's going well." He lifted his flute to his lips and began a languorous melody which was picked up by the _kotos_. It helped to have something else to focus on besides the hatching in progress. Mozu's fingers tightened on his shoulder and he missed his cue to join in the song.

"Sensei?"

Kirin continued until the end of the musical phrase before asking, "Yes?"

"Sensei, one of Bana's eggs isn't moving." Mozu's voice quavered. "It's not hatching."

Standing up, Kirin could see through the males gathered around the eggs. The purplish shell was already beginning to turn grey. "Oh, no…"

"Kirin-_san_?" Sakura asked, the wrinkles deepening on her face. "What is it?" The other elder, Deiji, plunked a discordant note as she stopped playing as well. Takakura and Tancho's drum solo lasted less than a minute when they became aware of the tension in the room as well.

"Boys, stay with Sakura and Deiji." Kirin strode across to the group gathered around the hatching eggs. Kiyo had her infant in her arms, soothing and cuddling it and Miza was helping hers out of the shell but Bana and O-tama were having problems.

The baby in O-tama's arms let out a feeble squall but its face was strange as if it was only working on one side. She looked up and Kirin had never seen such a panicked expression on O-tama's face. "Kirin-_san_! Did your rookery training include—?"

"Hatching emergencies? Yes, the clan healer gave us all basic training."

"Bana's hatchling is not breathing – help her!"

Doryo was hovering anxiously and shrugged off Kirin's hand on his shoulder when he tried to move the toad-faced gargoyle. He and the elder had come to odds over the way he was teaching the Three; Doryo had considered readings from the clan scrolls preferable to Kirin's modern topics and had felt slighted by the newcomer.

"You must let me help the baby, Doryo," Kirin said urgently. "Move aside!"

"No! I will not leave!" Doryo snapped and aimed a savage wing slash at the taller male's face. Kirin side-stepped it and unceremoniously pitched Doryo across the room. Bana cried out but would not look up from her hatchling.

"Bana-_san_, let me see the baby," Kirin said gently but firmly. "I worked in the rookery at Ishimura for a time. I can help."

Wisps of hair were coming loose from her elaborate coiffure as the parrot-faced female looked up with tearful eyes. "She's not breathing," Bana sobbed, "she's not moving and the other—" She choked back a spate of tears.

"Here," Kirin took the hatchling from her just as Doryo lurched back. Bana grabbed her mate's sleeve to keep him out of the way. Checking the baby's vitals, Kirin couldn't get a pulse in the neck but he could sense a faint thumping in her chest. He jumped to his feet, and supporting her body along his forearm with her tiny head cradled in his hand, he swung her down towards the floor, letting the centrifugal force clear her airway.

"What are you doing?" Doryo bellowed. "You'll kill her!"

In the shocked pause that followed, the hatchling coughed and gave a mewling cry. Kirin raised one eyebrow at Doryo and passed the baby back to Bana. "Rub her all over to stimulate her," he said, putting motion to words with a soft cloth. "You must keep her crying to strengthen her lungs."

"But the other egg—" Bana's voice caught as she glanced at it desperately.

"Your daughter is alive," Kirin pointed out. "You must keep her that way. I will deal with the egg." He turned his back to her to shield her from any unfortunate sights. All the adult gargoyles present knew that it was a bad omen when an unhatched egg changed color. Tapping the shell with a talon, Kirin listened carefully for any signs of life from within. Nothing. He picked it up gingerly and tilted it. There was a wet, mucky slap as the contents shifted and a faint sulfurous odor permeated the shell. He glanced at O-tama and met her stare. She lifted her brow slightly. He shook his head.

O-tama bent her head but before she could speak, Takamatsu did so for her. "I am very sorry, Bana-_san_," the raven-headed leader of the Tengu said, "but I think it would be wise for Kirin to take the egg away. Doryo will show him where to lay it to rest."

Goro spoke up from his spot between Miza and Kiyo. "Let me go with Doryo instead, Takamatsu-_sama_. O-tama may need Kirin here to help her."

Takamatsu nodded slowly. "You're right," he agreed. "Fetch your tools, Goro, and go with Doryo." The big tusked gargoyle bowed briefly before he padded to the door and left, heading towards their supply cave.

Kirin busied himself with making a sling for the dead egg. Doryo slapped it out of his hands with narrowed eyes white with anger but Kirin backed off, knowing that Doryo was lashing out in his grief. The older gargoyle schooled his broad features into a stern, unyielding mask as he shared a brief word with his mate before leaving on his grim task.

Takamatsu put a hand on Kirin's arm. "Have you seen anything like this, Kirin-san?" he asked urgently, pointing down at O-tama's baby. "What is wrong with its face?"

Dropping to his haunches, Kirin looked over O-tama's shoulder at the newborn gargoyle. It was another female with Takamatsu's sooty feathers but O-tama's silvery hair. She would have been an attractive baby if not for the flaccid droop of her features along the left side of her face. In fact, the entire left side of her body seemed affected; her arm and leg were barely moving and her left wing was still curled up in wet folds. They were symptoms more common in the very elderly not the newly born but Kirin chose discretion over honest opinion.

"I am a teacher, not a healer, Takamatsu-_sama_," Kirin commented. "How are the others? Kiyo? Miza?"

Kiyo looked up, her high arched brows giving her a perpetually startled look, and smiled. "Mine is fine," she reported. "It's a male and he's hungry." She winced and shifted him in her arms. "Very hungry!"

"I've got a daughter too," Miza said softly, "but she's not acting right." She frowned. "Her eyes won't focus and she seems listless."

"Mine is still having difficulty breathing," Bana commented, still weeping over her lost egg. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "What can we do?"

O-tama finally shook off her momentary bout of panic. "I wish I had another healer here to consult," she said anxiously. "I've never had a hatching like this!"

Kirin tapped his finger on his chin. "Perhaps we should call Ishimura," he mused. "Kado might know something and he could consult with the village doctors if necessary."

"Kado?" Takamatsu asked sharply. "Who is that?"

"Master Kado is the healer for the Ishimura clan. He would know me – he was cataloguing the clan's medical records when I was a student and I was allowed to help him transcribe it." Kirin called across the room to the Three. "Tak! Didn't you see a bunch of campers down at the river bottoms?"

"Yes, sensei," Takakura spoke up eagerly. He and his rookery brothers had been waiting nervously while the adults were busy. "There were lots of young humans. We heard them say it was Golden Week."

"Teenagers away on a school holiday – good." Kirin chewed on one of his barbels. "Did any of them have cell phones? A box that they were talking to that fit in their hand?"

"Yes," Tancho answered thoughtfully. "The things would make a funny noise and then the people would talk into them."

Kirin looked at O-tama and then at Takamatsu who nodded his permission. "You three go down to the campgrounds and bring back one of those cell phones." He thought for moment. "Better yet, each of you bring one back. There's no telling how much charge there will be on those batteries."

Miza raised her feathered crest indignantly. "Kirin-_san_! That's stealing!" The Three paused in their tracks and stared at her.

"If it makes you feel better," Kirin said dryly, "when we are finished with them, we will drop them off at the ranger station. People lose their cell phones all the time, Miza, no one will be the wiser."

"Go on," Takamatsu said, gesturing to the youngsters with his staff. "Your little brother and sisters are depending on you." The Three were out the door and airborne before the Tengu leader finished speaking.

"Takamatsu-_sama_," one of the elder males said, "is this wise? We Tengu have struggled long to stand on our own since Nagasaki. To call upon the Ishimuran clan now might seem like a sign of weakness."

"Perhaps, but for our newborns, I would dare it!" Takamatsu replied hotly. "There is something clearly wrong with them – can you tell me what it is?" The elder immediately lowered his eyes to the ground.

The male hatchling in Kiyo's arms began to choke and splutter. She had him upright and was patting his back when he spewed milk and some greenish fluid. An experienced mother, Kiyo had a burp rag ready so most of the mess was contained but even she wrinkled her nose. "Phew! What a sour smell!" She wiped the baby's mouth. "I wouldn't want that in my stomach either!"

Makino chuckled and handed her a clean rag. "Less than an hour in the world and he's complaining about your cooking already, Kiyo-_chan_." The quiet-spoken gargoyle with the curving spikes from jaw to brow had been hovering attentively over his mate throughout the hatching. He was one of the few males that had taken a fatherly interest in both the new brood and the older hatchlings. Kiyo was taken care of so Kirin turned his attention to the others.

A quick glance at Bana told Kirin that she was in good hands with Sakura and Deiji; with the Three out from underfoot, the two female elders had put away their instruments to help her. Takamatsu had settled on a cushion by O-tama and was murmuring encouraging words into his mate's ear. By contrast, Miza seemed lost and alone with Goro off on burial detail. She rocked back and forth, crooning softly to her newborn. Burdened by a momentary twinge of guilt, Kirin padded over and hunkered down besides her on his haunches.

"Miza-_san_," he said softly, "how is she?"

"I think she could nurse if I just had enough milk," Miza replied. Her neckline was draped loosely so that the tops of her breasts were showing. "She's so weak; if I had more milk then it would be easier for her."

"Didn't Goro rub your back for you?" Makino asked, frowning. "We agreed that I would get Kiyo ready and he would take care of you." He was referring to the prenatal practice of preparing one's mate to nurse since gargoyle eggs had such a long gestation period. When the eggs were nearly ready to hatch, they began to emit gases that brought on hormonal changes in breeding females. Their mates would complete the process by stimulating certain pressure points to bring on lactation. Kirin felt a brief twinge of regret; he would have learned such techniques himself if things had been different back in Ishimura.

"He did," Miza answered defensively, "but he had to go tend his kiln and skipped a few nights."

"Kirin-san," O-tama said sounding relieved to have something practical to focus on, "there are acupressure points that will stimulate milk production. Will you rub Miza's back as I direct?"

"I can't – I mean, that is Goro's duty, not mine," Kirin objected. "I would not want offend him." This comment earned him a piercing look from O-tama that said very clearly that she didn't have any patience for his self-pitying moods tonight. "Very well," he agreed reluctantly, "if I must." He knelt and parted her feathered wings. Since she was expecting to nurse, Miza was wearing a skirt with a separate top. He untucked it from her embroidered obi so he could slide his hands under and avoid nagging the fabric with his talons.

"Start one hand's width from the base of her tail," O-tama instructed, "and begin rubbing gently with your thumbs on either side of her spine."

"All right." Kirin flexed his fingers and laid them gently on the flat of Miza's back. "You will tell me if I press too hard, _neh_?" he commented as he began the massage.

Miza smiled at him over her shoulder. "Do not worry, Kirin-san," she replied. "Goro's hands are toughened from throwing pots. I am used to it!"

"Hmmph." Concentrating on O-tama's instructions, Kirin traced a diagonal path up Miza's back from her tail to her shoulders, stimulating acupressure points every two or three inches. He kept well clear of the erogenous zone between her wings, although Miza did slowly rotate her shoulders when he was near that area. Her skin was soft and downy beneath his fingers. The hatchling in her arms made a soft gurgling sound and Miza caught her breath, tensing her muscles beneath his fingers.

"Are you all right?" Kirin asked, lifting his hands away.

"Yes," she sighed, a wistful catch in her voice. "The baby's finally latched on. I can feel her getting milk."

"Good – you can stop now, Kirin." O-tama sighed and frowned down at her own baby. "Now if I can only sort you out," she murmured. "This is not normal." She uncurled the baby's left hand and pinched it on the webbing between thumb and forefinger. "There's no reaction – it's as if she has no feeling."

The snap and crunch of branches heralded the return of the Three. Takakura bounded into the room and brandished two cellular telephones in one hand. "Success, sensei!" he called excitedly. "They were having a bonfire so Tancho kept watch while Mozu and I went through the campsites."

"Excellent!" Kirin said as he held out his hand for the pilfered phones. "Now let's just hope that Hiroshi hasn't changed his number."

"Hiroshi?" Takamatsu asked. "Who is this, a member of the Ishimura clan?"

"Actually, he's a constable in the village," Kirin answered as he tentatively pecked out a sequence of numbers from memory. "However, his family has been the clan's daytime caretakers for generations. We can trust him."

The thought of involving a human set the Tengu to muttering anxiously among themselves but Kirin ignored them as he listened to the dial tone. Hiroshi picked up on the third ring. "Constable Hiroshi here," the Japanese policeman answered. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Hiroshi-_san_, you might not remember me but I am Kirin, rookery brother to Kai-_sama_," he said quickly. "I have a medical emergency. I need to speak to the clan's healer, Master Kado, if that is possible."

"Kirin-_san_? Ah – I know you now! You are the one that went wandering so many years ago!" Hiroshi sounded both astounded and pleased. Kirin remembered Hiroshi as a human of average size and appearance but one of the few humans that had attended the clan's bushido lessons. As result, it was not surprising when Hiroshi chose to join the police force as a young man. "There was a sighting of you in Kyoto a few years ago that had everyone talking. You turned up in a photo of a temple statue garden."

"Really? I did not know that," Kirin replied politely. "About Master Kado--?"

"Do not worry, Kirin-_san_," Hiroshi said, his footsteps echoing in the background. "This is my mobile phone. I was just on my way to the temple for the blessing of the hatchlings. Kado should be there or at the very least, his apprentice Kawa. He's been coming along nicely."

"Well?" Takamatsu demanded, leaning heavily on his staff as he stood up. "What do they say?"

"Hiroshi is looking for Master Kado," Kirin answered with his hand over the receiver. "The clan has gathered in the temple so the Shinto priest can bless the hatchlings." He glanced at O-tama. "Kado will probably want details – will you speak with him?"

O-tama looked nervously at the phone. "If I must," she said reluctantly. "I have never used such a device."

"Ah, here he is," said Hiroshi's voice in Kirin's ear. "Kado-_san_, I have a call for you!"

"Who is it?" demanded Kado testily. The blue-skinned healer sounded annoyed and Kirin guessed that Hiroshi had gotten there just before the opening of wine barrels. Kado was always called upon to give his blessing to the new hatchlings and he always made sure to have a cup of sake for each and every new life that he brought into the world. "I'm in the middle of a hatching here! Whoever it is—"

"A thousand pardons, but it is Kirin, the one that went ronin," Hiroshi explained politely. "He asked for you – it is a medical emergency, he says."

A hubbub of raised voices rose up, many of them repeating his name but the next voice on the line belonged to Kado. "Kirin-_san_?" the Ishimuran healer asked curiously. "What's the matter? Where are you?"

Kirin glanced briefly at the anxious faces of his hosts. He would have to proceed cautiously. "I am with the Tengu, Master Kado. Do you remember them?"

"Yes, I was only an apprentice then but I recall them. Why?"

"Their hatching has gone badly," Kirin continued. "One egg did not hatch and all of the babies are exhibiting strange symptoms." He quickly listed them. "The Tengu healer has never had a hatching like this. Is there anything that you can do?"

"What, you want me to make a house call? I'm a healer, not a long-distance repairman!" Kado demanded incredulously. "Never mind, let's look for some common factor. A lot of those symptoms sound like neurological damage. Were these eggs shaken or jostled in anyway?"

"Well, there was quite a bad earthquake in these region a few years back." Kirin looked around at the attentive Tengu and explained quickly, "Kado asked if the eggs had been shaken prior to hatching."

"They did get moved around during the Great Quake," Miza offered as she gently burped her baby. "They were all over the cave floor but the straw was very thick and deep. There were no cracks so we thought they were fine."

"The rookery keeper here says that the eggs were moved about but that none were cracked," Kirin reported back. "Do you think the quake could have damaged the hatchlings _in ovum_?"

"Where did you hear that term?" Kado asked and then laughed. "Ha! That's right – you learned it when you were copying those scrolls for me! Yes, it could be a possibility – it's well-known that shaking an infant can cause brain damage. There is something else – it also sounds like some form of heavy metal poisoning."

"Heavy-metal poisoning?" Kirin repeated. "I'm not sure how that could be possible. The Tengu live a very healthy lifestyle, faraway from cities and other pollutants."

"Where were the eggs kept?"

"In a cave," Kirin answered. "It used to be an old silver mine. The area's riddled with them." A sick thought occurred to him. "Silver mining gives off chemical by-products, doesn't it?"

The background noise quieted on Kado's end as the Ishimuran healer moved away from the crowd. "I recall reading about something called _Itai-Itai_ disease back in the fifties or sixties. It was caused by the runoff of mining operations in the mountains."

"But how could that affect the eggs? Nothing can get through the stone shell, can it?"

"Ordinarily, I'd say so," Kado drawled out, "but a severe earthquake could have caused microfractures that could not be seen with the naked eye." He paused and let out a heavy sigh. "These eggs have probably been exposed to these toxins for – how long ago was the earthquake?"

"Three years," Kirin answered. "It was in nineteen ninety-five."

"Was it? So that's where you are, neh?" Kado clicked his tongue thoughtfully as he put Kirin's comments together with past events; there had been minor earthquakes since but none as disastrous as the one that had nearly destroyed Kobe. "There are tonics that can help leech out the heavy metals in their bodies but the damage has been done, Kirin-_san_. Heavy metal poisoning has a high mortality rate among the old and the very young. You must prepare them for the worst."

Kirin swallowed hard. "I understand, Master Kado. Do you wish to tell me your recommendations or do you wish to speak directly to O-tama?"

"Ah, did O-tama become clan healer there? I remember her as a scrawny little thing with a bent wing when the Tengu were last here. Put her on – I will be glad to speak to her."

"Master Kado has some suggestions to make to you," Kirin said as he held the phone out to O-tama. "Will you speak to him?"

O-tama looked nervously from the phone to Takamatsu. The Tengu clan leader sank down besides her. "Go ahead, _aisai_," he said encouragingly. "It will be up to you to make the hatchlings well. You must speak to him, healer to healer." He nodded to Sakura and she came over to take the baby.

"He remembers you from when he was a healer's apprentice," Kirin said encouragingly. "It will be all right." He waited a few moments as O-tama took the phone and began to speak tentatively into it. When her conversation turned to medical matters, Kirin took a moment to step outside. The Three were sitting on the edge of the porch with their heads together in a worried huddle. "Such serious faces," he commented as he took a seat next to Mozu. "This evening has not turned out the way that we thought it would, has it?"

"No, it hasn't, Master Kirin," Tancho answered thoughtfully. "What's wrong with the new hatchlings?"

"Sometimes karma is fickle," Kirin said carefully, "and hands us a fate that we do not deserve."

Takakura snorted. "I saw how you and the other adults were acting in there. Something bad has happened – don't talk to us like we don't know because we do."

"Please, sensei," Mozu said as he leaned against Kirin's side. "We really want to know."

"As do I." They all looked up to see Takamatsu leaning against his staff. "I would know what the Ishimura healer has told you. I could tell by your face that it was not all good news."

"Master Kado suspects heavy metal poisoning," Kirin answered. "How long have you been using that rookery?"

"The last two rookeries were kept there," Takamatsu said slowly. "As you can see, the Three had no problems."

"The earthquake might have caused tiny cracks in the stone shells," Kirin continued. "That could have left the eggs open to poisons and bacteria that they wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise." He felt Mozu tremble and he put his arm around him. "The best Kado can do is advise O-tama. The symptoms make him think that the damage is neurological in nature."

"What does that mean?"

"Their nervous systems, perhaps even their brains have been affected." Kirin met Takamatsu's eyes. "If these hatchlings survive, there could be long-term developmental problems."

Doryo and Goro landed in the clearing. The toad-faced elder headed towards them while boar-tusked Goro went to put away his tools. "Is there any chance that they will get better?" Takamatsu asked as he watched Doryo come closer. There were signs of grief on the bereaved father's face.

"Kado was not optimistic," Kirin said simply. "The next few nights will tell."

Takamatsu sighed deeply and went to intercept Doryo and Goro. Hushed words were exchanged and the three males returned inside.

"Sensei," Mozu said in a small voice, "I'm scared." The seriousness of the situation had begun to sink in; Tancho and Takakura were regarding him with solemn eyes.

"So am I," Kirin agreed gently, gesturing for the other two to join him. Even though they were trying hard to act grown-up, the Three were still only children. He gathered them in like frightened chicks beneath his wings. "All we can do for now is to help out whatever way that we can." He smiled at them. "A clan stands together, my students."

"No matter what?" Tancho asked, his brow twisted with worry.

"Many gargoyles together can do more than one alone." It was an oft-quoted parable but typically Tak picked up on an aspect that Kirin hadn't considered.

"You were a gargoyle alone, Master Kirin," Takakura pointed out, "and yet you've done more than any of us. We've never made a big journey or lived in a city or any of the things that you've done."

"One does what one has to do to survive," Kirin answered curtly as he rose from the porch. "Now, what we must do is to go to the kitchens and see what Miza and Kiyo have left in the warming trays. I'm sure that everyone is hungry now, _neh_?"

The prospect of enjoying the hatching feast cheered the three youngsters up tremendously and they chattered amongst themselves as they headed off to the kitchens. Kirin started to follow but O-tama intercepted him on the porch steps.

"Kirin-san," she said holding out the phone, "a thousand thanks for calling Master Kado. He asked to speak to you again."

"Thank you." Kirin gave her a courtesy head bow and took the cell phone. "Kirin here," he said. "Is there anything else I should know, Master Kado?"

"Brother! It is so good to hear your voice!" Kai exclaimed enthusiastically, so loudly that Kirin had to back away from the phone. "I had hoped you were still alive, especially after that picture of you turned up. Why haven't you called sooner?"

"I-I did not think of doing it," Kirin stammered. The unabashed affection in Kai's voice had shaken him. He still felt the strong bond between him and his rookery sibling. "You know me -- when my mind is occupied, the world goes on without me."

"Too true!" Kai laughed briefly but his tone turned sober. "I was sorry to hear things have gone badly at the Tengu's hatching. Is there anything we at Ishimura can do?"

"Master Kado's advice seems to have helped," Kirin answered, "although time will only prove its worth." He hesitated. "And your hatching there? How has it gone?"

"Most excellently! Sakaki and her helpers have their hands full with the new brood. All of the hatchlings are healthy and hungry and squalling like fiends for their dinner."

"All the eggs?" It was as close as Kirin could come to directly asking.

Kai understood. "Even that one."

"Good." Kirin shut off the phone abruptly before anything more could be said. It was rude but it couldn't be helped. Clenching the phone in his hand, Kirin fought back the surge of mixed emotions caused by his brief conversation with Kai. The passing years should have made the pain more bearable but it had not – the news from home only made him feel hollow inside. A glance through the open doorway showed the new parents communing with their new offspring, happy in spite of their worries. Makino had taken the baby from Miza's arms and was rocking it with surprising gentleness for such a large male. A pain spread across Kirin's chest and his hands ached for the child he would never hold. His eyes watered.

"Sensei!" Tancho called across the courtyard. "Tak's eating the steamed buns and he won't stop!"

Kirin shook off his grief and concentrated on the here and now.

_**To be continued in Part III of "Ronin" …..**_


	3. Part III

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly T. appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

**Part III**

_It is diversity that reveals one's true character and this was never more true as the Tengu rallied to save their ill-fated rookery. O-tama worked harder than anyone ever thought possible, making the tonics that Master Kado prescribed and giving them to the new hatchlings. Kiyo and Miza's babies were the strongest, although Kiyo's son was still spitting up most of what he'd eaten. Bana's daughter barely had the strength to cry after her initial awakening. She would fall asleep in mid-suckle, the milk dribbling out of her mouth. O-tama's own baby tried desperately to nurse but seemed unable to manage the simplest of functions. _

_The anxiety of the adults had begun to affect the Three before the night was over. It would have been a night of celebration for them as well, marking a halfway point in their passage to adulthood. Tancho and Mozu confined themselves to deep sighs and pitiful looks; Takakura's sulky whining earned him a backhanded cuff on the ear from Doryo before I finally took them off to the classroom for the remainder of the evening. Personally, I was grateful for the distraction – being around the newborns and their parents only reinforced my own deepset shortcomings._

_In the early morning hours, the Three and I glided down to the campgrounds and left the cell phones near their owners' tents. I was tempted to keep them because, in spite of the pain it had inadvertently caused me, it had been good to hear voices from home. As O-tama would say, it was a small step in the right direction, but it was not a path that I was ready to follow. It only made me more aware that life had gone on without me. _

A high-pitched keening greeted Kirin and the Three when they shook off the debris from their stone sleep. Kirin and his students had roosted by the classroom to stay out of the way of the adults. The strange cry was joined by other voices, foreshadowing things to come. Startled, Kirin asked, "What is that?"

"Something must have happened," Takakura said as he frowned in that direction. "The females are all crying."

"Stay here," Kirin commanded and bolted on all fours down the path.

O-tama was bent over something on the ground, rocking back and forth. Her long silver-white hair covered her like a shroud. She lifted her head and wailed an eerie otherworldly cry. Takamatsu tried to comfort her but she pulled away from him in her grief. Tears were pouring down Miza's face and she stopped Kirin from approaching.

"Her baby," Miza whispered shakily, "it only turned to stone halfway. Its heart stopped beating. When O-tama awoke, it had been dead for hours."

"Sweet Buddha," Kirin breathed. He felt chilled to the bone. His own pain was nothing in comparison to what O-tama and Takamatsu must be feeling right now. "She will do herself an injury," he murmured back to Miza. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I know where she keeps her tonics. There's one that's very calming -- a little soothes the nerves, a bit more will bring on sleep."

"Go and fetch it," Kirin said. "I'll hold O-tama for you -- she's too upset to take it willingly."

Miza left her baby with one of the other females and scurried off, returning quickly with a stoneware bottle and a cup. Kirin let her approach the bereaved couple first; as Takamatsu's daughter, she had a right to share in their grief.

"O-tama," Miza began gently, "I've brought you something to ease your pain. Please, step-mother, will you take it?" When O-tama shook her head and continued to sob, Miza appealed to Takamatsu. "Her grief is too much, _otou-sama_, she will hurt herself if she continues like this. Will you let Kirin-_san_ help me give her this tonic?"

Takamatsu nodded curtly. On closer inspection, Kirin could tell that the Tengu leader was holding onto his own stoic composure by a thread. "_Aisai_," Takamatsu said in a hoarse voice, "come now -- you must let us help you. There is nothing more that we can do for this child. Her spirit has taken wing and all that is left is an empty shell." He reached down and began to ease her hands away from the lifeless bundle that she was holding. "Please, beloved, you must let go."

Unexpectedly, O-tama struck out at them with a fresh bout of wailing and hysterics. Kirin darted in and caught her arms. O-tama showed surprising strength for her age and size. Pinning her arms to her sides by the simple impediment of wrapping his arms around her slight form, Kirin was finally able to subdue her. Takamatsu was weeping silently as he helped pry her mouth open so Miza could administer the sedative. O-tama sobbed in his grasp as her struggles weakened.

"She's calming down now," Kirin reported quietly. "Her heartbeat is slowing."

"Give her to me," Takamatsu said, holding out his arms. Kirin transferred the healer's limp body to him. "Poor _aisai_," he murmured. "O-tama was so looking forward to this hatching. She never expected to be mated, you know, not after so long. Takakura was a blessing in our old age and to have another – she thought it was a miracle." He laid his feathered head gently on top of her silver hair. "We tempted fate one time too many, beloved."

Both Kirin and Miza turned away to give them some privacy. Old Sakura came forward with a length of cloth in her hands. She did not need to say what it was for. Spreading his wings to shield the view from the grieving parents, Kirin helped the two females swaddle the dead hatchling for burial. It was a disturbing sight; one side hard stone and the other side cold flesh. Death must have occurred seconds after sunrise. Kirin could only hope for the child's sake that it had been swift and painless.

It was only the beginning. One by one, the new hatchlings died. Once she recovered from the loss of her own infant, O-tama fought desperately to save the others but the long term damage had been done. The weak lungs of Bana's hatchling never improved and her breathing grew more labored until it stopped completely. Kiyo's baby slowly wasted away, always hungry but unable to keep the food down. Miza's daughter lasted almost a week – just long enough that everyone dared to hope that their luck was changing – before she too closed her eyes on the world.

Sadness hung over the village like a shadowy veil. In the schoolroom, Kirin kept his students busy with a normal routine at Takamatsu's request; the Tengu adults were too occupied with their own grief to have the patience to deal with the youngsters. Takakura and Tancho were the first to recover but Mozu kept to himself, sitting in a corner with one of Kirin's few books. He would turn the pages occasionally, but Kirin thought it was unlikely that Mozu was actually reading.

Finally one night after he'd dismissed the others, Kirin took a seat by his smallest student. "Mozu-_kun_," he asked carefully, "is there something you'd like to talk about? You've been quieter than usual."

The dark brown-tipped feathers on his head rose and fell. "I know."

"What's wrong?" After three years with the Tengu, Kirin knew how empathic Mozu was towards others around him. His introspective nature was merely a defense against feelings that Mozu was too inexperienced to deal with. "You know you tell me anything. Listening to one's students is part of being a teacher."

"Goro says --" Mozu blurted out, "he says I should leave her alone and she'll come out of it on her own but I don't think so. She doesn't eat unless someone makes her and she just sits there in the corner of the supply hut. Half the time she doesn't know I exist and the other half she holds me so tight that I can't breathe." He paused to take a breath. "It's been nearly a month, sensei. How long is Miza going to be this way?"

"Grief is a personal thing," Kirin answered slowly. "It is a pain that wounds you deep inside." He thumped his own chest with his fingers. "It is a hurt that for some people will never go away." A shadow fell over his eyes. "I know this all too well."

"Everyone is so sad," Mozu commented. "We were all so happy and now—" He spread his hands. "It's like we will never be happy again."

"It will take a long time but things will get back to normal."

"I don't know. O-tama and Bana and Kiyo -- they're still sad but they're not acting like Miza. They have their mates with them all the time." Mozu sighed unhappily. "Goro went to the clayworks after he buried the baby. He hasn't talked to Miza since. It's not right!"

Kirin blinked. It was rare to hear Mozu speak of his birth father, much less criticize him. Miza doted on Mozu but Goro seldom acknowledged him. That in itself was not uncommon; gargoyles raised their young communally but adults often recognized their own offspring subtly by giving them extra attention or praise. Goro never did and Kirin was certain that it hurt Mozu deeply. "Are you sure? He may be grieving in his own way."

"I had to go down to the clayworks to even speak to him," Mozu snorted derisively. "Every time I tried to talk about Miza, he would do something noisy to drown me out. Finally he told me that I was annoying him and to go away."

"I see." This news left a bad taste in Kirin's mouth. "Perhaps I should talk to Goro myself. He has upset you and I cannot have my students upset." He chucked Mozu under the chin. "In the meanwhile, I think that your mother will benefit by your company. She loves you and she needs you now more than ever."

Mozu gave him the first real smile that Kirin had seen in a week and bounced up from the cushions. "I will, sensei! Thank you!" He hurried off with a spring in his step that had not been there before.

While he tidied the schoolroom, Kirin considered his options. Goro was unusually reserved even by Japanese standards. It was entirely possible that withdrawing from everyone including his mate was simply Goro's way of dealing with emotional stress. He would have to tread carefully.

The clayworks were several miles away from the main Tengu encampment, along the river that twisted its way through the Rokko Mountains. On one of the southern slopes, the river expanded to a wide basin, slick with mossy grey clay. Goro had constructed his own kiln in a small ravine nearby, difficult to get to by foot but easy enough to access by wing. He was stripped down to a mud-stained loincloth as he worked his kick wheel, spinning a large lump of clay into a tall jug. His dark hair kept back from his face with a checkered headband, red-skinned Goro spared him a glance as Kirin touched down.

"Good to see you out of the classroom," he grunted, his great curling tusks slurring his words slightly as he took a length of waxed cord and excised the pot from the throwing stone. "I don't know how you can stay cooped up in there."

"I enjoy the quiet," Kirin replied, "and the company is good."

Transferring the greenware pot to a thin piece of wood, Goro moved it to a drying rack. He had roofed a section of the narrow ravine walls and camouflaged it so it was hidden from casual view. When he came back out, Goro commented, "So the little bird has been singing, has he?"

It did not surprise Kirin that Goro would make the connection between his arrival and Mozu's recent visit to the clayworks. Behind his burly exterior, Goro had proven to have a considerable intellect, a talent most evident during the long winters when the clan amused themselves with games. Goro had proved to be a capable strategist in _shogi_ and _go_ and Kirin had found him a challenging opponent.

"It is only natural for Mozu to be worried about Miza," Kirin said simply. "He is a very sensitive and caring child."

"Hmmph." Goro plunged his arms into a bucket of water and began to scrub the clay from them. "She coddles him too much."

"A kind word and a gentle touch is sometimes all one needs." Kirin watched Goro out of the corner of his eye. "Miza could use that from you right now. I understand that you two haven't spoken since the burial."

"What is done cannot be undone," Goro said simply. "I dug five graves in a week, Kirin-_san_. I laid those babies to rest beneath Tengu Rock with these hands." He held them out, still dripping from the wash bucket. "No matter what I do, they will never come clean! How can I speak to her when I cannot come to terms with this?" Unsettled by his uncharacteristic display of emotion, Goro took up the bucket and stalked off to the river.

Kirin followed, stopping in the graveled shallows. The cool water rippled over his hoof-like feet and plastered the fur to his legs. "How can you not talk to her?" he challenged. "Who better to understand how she is feeling?"

Wading out into the current, Goro shook his head. "Talking to females has never been easy for me." He ducked down under the water for a few seconds to rinse the last of the clay from his body. "Even with Miza, I --" he wiped away the river water from his eyes, " -- I never even courted her, did you know that? They matched us up when we were no older than the Three."

"She speaks of you with much affection."

"Of course," Goro snorted, striding from the water. "I never said that Miza and I were not fond of each other."

"Then what?" Kirin persisted. "Why will you not help her? She is your mate!"

Goro gave him a curious stare before speaking. "I do my duty to the clan as it is needed," he stated flatly. "What Miza needs most, I cannot give her." He went back into his makeshift studio, returning with a drying cloth and fresh clothes. Unwinding the wet fundoshi, he tossed it aside, unconcerned about his nudity as he took his time in dressing.

Kirin politely averted his eyes. "And what would that be?"

"I am not capable of giving her the kind of affection that she deserves." When Kirin glanced his way, Goro merely shrugged. "I have tried to please Miza the best that I can but it is simply not in my nature. I have other preferences."

Uncertain how to respond, Kirin was mulling over this comment when Goro continued, "Miza has liked you from the beginning. She would find your advances much more agreeable than mine." He gave a snorting chuckle. "Kami knows you're better-looking -- Miza and I both agreed on that. Whenever you let her comb your hair, she's happy as a lark for hours."

"Bah! It's no thrill for me -- I always feel like a horse being groomed," Kirin retorted. "By all rights, I should paw the ground and whinny."

"Still, Miza is happy when she is with you." Goro pulled on a faded yukata. "If you wanted to spend time with her, I would have no objections."

Kirin stared at him blankly. "What are you saying--?"

"Mozu was right about one thing," Goro commented, not meeting Kirin's eyes. "Miza needs to feel alive again. The last time we spoke, we said many hurtful things. I would only remind her of them. You, on the other hand, would please her and that would please me."

Goro's enigmatic comment puzzled Kirin for the remainder of the night. The implication was that Goro knew full well about the tryst in the bathhouse. What baffled Kirin was Goro's attitude about it; in Ishimura, Kirin would have been challenged to a duel but Goro actually seemed to approve of Kirin's indiscretion with his mate. It was one thing to indulge in such conduct during an open mating flight but it was generally disapproved of otherwise. They returned to the village together for the evening meal and acted as if their conversation had not happened.

The mood was subdued among the other males. By and large, the Tengu males had bore the loss of the rookery stoically, throwing themselves into insignificant tasks in order to distance themselves from the grieving females. Doryo and Takamatsu lingered behind in the company of their fellow elders while Makino wandered outside with Goro and Kirin. The big spiked gargoyle had been hard hit by the tragedy and had not left his mate's side until recently.

"How is Kiyo?" Kirin asked to fill the awkward pause as they left the meeting hall.

"She's much better, thank you," Makino replied. "She didn't want to do anything for the longest time but after I burned rice in one of her best pots, she decided that she needed to rescue the kitchen from me." His rolling laugh sounded strange after such of long period of mourning. "It's a pity that Miza is still sad." He eyed Goro carefully. "Kiyo misses her touch with the baking."

Goro merely shrugged and pulled a folded section of newspaper from his tunic. "I forgot to show you this, Kirin-_san_," he said, holding it out. "I saw someone toss it out of their car window yesterday. I was going to use it for kindling but then I saw the picture of the baseball player." He tapped on the printing next to the photo. "I do not know all the words but this is a game schedule, _neh_?"

"Let me see," Kirin murmured. He scanned the lines of tight Japanese pictographs. "Yes, this is the sports page. It's not a schedule but---" He raised his bushy eyebrows and whistled. "The Yomiuri Giants from Tokyo are playing in Osaka tomorrow!"

"Against the Buffalos?" Makino asked wistfully. "Is that a good match?"

Goro rolled his eyes and smacked his hand playfully against Makino's chest. "It will be a most outstanding game, my friend! These teams seldom play each other save in the playoffs." He nodded at the other two males. "I say we take the Three and make a night of it."

"What?" Kirin asked incredulously. Goro rarely included the hatchlings in anything.

Makino was looking at Goro strangely as well. "What is this? Are you ill, brother?"

"You heard Doryo and the other elders complaining at dinner. The Three have been sneaking off to play pranks since the females have been so distracted lately." Goro gestured towards Kirin. "Their poor teacher can't be everywhere at once. He hasn't had a moment to himself in over a month."

"I suppose that is true," Makino mused. "The trout are running up in the high streams. Last year at this time, Kirin-_san_, we only saw you when your catch basket was full."

Glancing wistfully up to the northeast, Kirin realized that Makino was right. He had learned to fish in Ishimura when he was still in the rookery and it remained one of his favorite pastimes. In the early spring, he'd taken the Three up the coast from Kobe to fish for salmon but their hijinks kept him from catching as much as he normally would have. "It's probably too late," he said unconvincing reluctance. "All the best spots have probably been taken."

"You know, Miza had a secret place that she used to go to," Goro commented. "Do you remember, Makino, when she was a girl, she would sneak off and come back with baskets of fish?"

"Yes, I do!" Makino said enthusiastically. "Beautiful brown speckled trout!" He laughed. "We could never get her to tell us where she went but we were always glad at dinnertime. Delicious!"

"You should go talk to Miza," Goro told Kirin. "See if she'll show you a good spot to fish."

Makino nodded. "That might just do the trick – anything to get Miza out and about again. You should try it!"

Narrowing his eyes, Kirin glared at Goro but the boar-tusked gargoyle had an inscrutable expression on his face that gave away nothing. Kirin felt he was a game piece being shuffled into place on a _shogi_ board. "Fine," he huffed, "but I won't promise anything."

The Three greeted the news about a night out at the ballpark with an explosion of boyish enthusiasm. Takakura and Tancho were all set to roost at the stadium but Goro and Makino firmly squashed that idea. They settled instead for taking the hatchlings to a roosting spot farther to the east, in the mountains outside of Osaka. Makino began to shepherd them away so they could prepare for the trip but Mozu followed Kirin into the schoolroom instead.

"Go on, Mozu," Kirin said, gesturing to the others. "Makino wants to pack some food to take with you. If you don't get in there soon, your brothers will get all the good bits for themselves."

Mozu glanced over his shoulder. "You talked to Goro!" His beaked face lit up. "You did, didn't you?"

"Of course," Kirin replied quietly. "I said that I would." He smiled back. "I think when you get back, things will be much better."

"But, sensei," Mozu said earnestly, "why won't you come with us? Baseball is fun!"

"I have other plans," he answered. "Don't worry about me, Mozu. Go enjoy your outing."

"Hey!" Takakura bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Featherhead! Hurry up!"

Kirin waved Mozu off, waiting until the small hatchling scampered off after the others before retrieving his fishing gear from the storage space between the floorboards. It was one of the few things that he had taken with him from Ishimura. Thanks to his unusual appearance, Kirin was one of the few Ishimurans that knew who his parents were. Most of his fishing gear had previously belonged to his father, a tall, green-skinned gargoyle with a crown of horns, who worked alongside humans in the fishing fleet.

As he laid out the coiled line, barbed hooks and fishing spears, Kirin remembered the many nights that his father would single him out of his rookery and would take him out to fish in the coastal pools and inland waters. He pulled the privacy screen out from the wall and spread his seine net out over it. His mother's clever fingers had woven it for him as a gift when he'd first been allowed to go out fishing with the other males. Kirin smiled to himself – it was one of the few good memories he had of Ishimura. Both of his parents had been so proud to see their gangly son being singled out for an adult's duty, even if he was still attending lessons with the rest of his siblings.

Less than a year later, a typhoon sank his father's fishing boat and grief took his mother soon afterwards but Kirin cherished the memories of the time that they had spent together. It was, he reflected as he repaired a loose knot, one of the few things that had given him strength during his wandering years. He wondered what it would take to give Miza the strength to get past her grief. It was altogether too tempting to seduce her as Goro suggested and he had an uneasy feeling that it would cause more problems than it would solve.

His fingers brushed the walnut-sized carved bead at the end of the row. Kirin turned it over and looked at it fondly. It was a tiny image of Jizo, a guardian deity that looked over children. His mother had served many years as a _miko_ or shrine maiden before his father had courted her and it was her habit to slip these little good luck charms into anything that she made for her son. To invoke Jizo was to invite Buddha to watch over one's child and keep them from harm, both on earth and in heaven. He lifted his eyebrows thoughtfully and cast his gaze towards the village as the germ of an idea began to take shape.

While the sky was still purpling on the horizon, Kirin put his plan into action. He strode down the hill to the clearing and intercepted Miza before she could retreat into the storeroom. Mozu had not been exaggerating; Miza was faded like a shadow cast by candlelight. Her eyes were dull like tarnished gold coins as she turned her head to look at him.

"Miza-_san_," Kirin murmured. "What has happened to you?"

She shrugged. "It is nothing."

"No, it is not." When she started to walk away, Kirin hitched his fishing gear more securely over his shoulder and scooped her up like an armload of kindling. "No wonder Mozu has been worried. You've been wasting away."

"Put me down!" Miza struck at his chest with her fists in a futile gesture but she had no strength to struggle.

"Kirin-_san_?" O-tama came up besides them. "What are you doing?" Even though she still had moments of profound sadness, her duties as healer had helped O-tama overcome her own grief. She narrowed her eyes speculatively at the tall Ishimuran gargoyle.

"Miza needs a change in scenery," Kirin replied. "Goro suggested that I take her fishing."

The Tengu healer raised both of her brow ridges up like an owl. She knew how distraught Kirin had been after the last time that he had been alone with Miza. "I see," she said simply. "You will take care of her, _neh_? Miza has not been out in a long time."

"We will be fine," Kirin said as he strode off towards the edge of the nearby gorge. They were airborne and sailing northeast over the mountains before Miza spoke again.

"Where are we going?" she asked in a broken voice. "We're not really going fishing, are we?"

"Eventually." Kirin shifted, canting into the wind. "We have a stop to make first."

Miza shook her head weakly. "I didn't want to go anywhere. Why are you doing this?"

"I have my reasons."

Shrines and temples were sprinkled throughout the rolling hills of Kyoto like mushrooms after a warm spring rain. Kirin glided over several until he came upon a cluster of small stone figures half-hidden in a shallow grotto near a hot springs resort. There were lights on at the hotel but the sounds of a boisterous party covered any noise that their landing might have made.

"Where are we?" Miza hissed, tugging at his arm. "Kirin-_san_! There are people here!"

"They're well into their sake barrels if I'm any judge," Kirin replied mildly. "There's something I'd like to show you." He led her into the grotto. It was quiet and damp with only the sound of water dripping down the stone wall behind the shrine. There was a row of six identical statues, all images of a bald Buddhist monk with a rounded face and holding a staff with six brass rings attached to it in one hand and a celestial jewel in the other.

"He seems like a child," Miza observed in a hushed voice, curious in spite of herself.

"This is Jizo," Kirin said as he stepped up to the shrine. "He watches travelers on their paths and guards the souls of children." He picked up a bamboo ladle and dipped it in the spring-fed pool that flowed around the base of the statues. Chanting under his breath, he bowed to the first statue and poured a dipperful of water over its granite head.

Miza watched as he repeated the gesture on the next statue and then the next before speaking. "What are you doing?"

Continuing to ladle water over the statues, Kirin murmured, "I'm performing the rite of _mizuko_ _kuyo_. It's a memorial service for infants that have died -- pouring water over the statue symbolizes the essence of the child returning back to the water of life." He gestured to a cluster of tall scarlet poppies growing in a nearby flower bed. "It is customary to leave something red as an offering to ensure Jizo's goodwill. Will you pick some of those, in memory of our lost rookery?" He watched her stiffen out of the corner of his eye but she shook it off and did his bidding.

They worked together in silence until Kirin was finished. He knelt before the shrine and bowed to the statues with his fingertips pressed together in reverence. After a few seconds of hesitation, Miza joined him. The grotto sank into a well of silence as they both became lost in silence. As he chanted the mantra of the Lotus Sutra to himself, Kirin let his mind wander. He knew he should be feeling sad over the dead Tengu rookery but more and more his thoughts had been dwelling on the fatherless hatchling in Ishimura. He'd caught himself lurking around campsites looking for another opportunity to steal a cell phone so he could call Kai again but each time he managed to talk himself out of it. Ikeike would never let him near the child. He gave a long huffing sigh.

There was a sense of wonder in Miza's voice. "It is a strange thing," she observed, "but I find this very comforting. How did you know about this, Kirin-_san_?"

"Jizo and I are old companions," he said simply. "His shrines are all over Japan. He travels to wherever there are people who are unable to free themselves from unhappiness and fear." He glanced at her briefly. "I know what it is like, you see, to be trapped by grief."

"How could you?" Her eyes were round and glowing with the first spark of emotion that she'd shown in weeks. "It was my hatchling, not yours! I carried it in my body, cared for it in the rookery, and held it as it died in my arms!"

"At least you got to hold your baby, Miza," Kirin retorted without thinking. "I will never have that!"

His words shook Miza out of her self-pity. "What?" she asked as her crest rose slightly. "But we thought -- forgive me, I don't mean to pry -- but we always thought that you had no mate."

"I am ronin." He turned his head away. "What is past is past."

"You… had an egg in Ishimura?"

"It does not matter," he said gruffly. "It will never know me."

Miza leaned against his shoulder. They sat there motionless in the little grotto while the sounds of the drunken party came and went in the hot springs spa. Her voice trembled when she finally spoke. "I can't imagine what that must be like," she said simply. "This is why you were upset before, isn't it? In the bathhouse? I said something about mating and it upset you."

Kirin couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth so he merely nodded. "As I told O-tama, it was not your fault. As much as I might wish otherwise, those memories will always be with me." An errant breeze made one of the flowers roll off onto the ground and he reached out to replace it. "Every time I think that I've moved past it, something brings it up again like a knife twisting in my gut." He sighed. "If there's anything I've learned, Miza, it's that you can't let grief rule your life."

"I keep expecting to see her," she blurted out. "I've tried and tried to forget her but I can't."

"Don't," he answered sharply. "Remember the good things about her. Your daughter was a good baby – she never fussed or cried. Do you remember the night that she opened her eyes?"

"Yes," Miza continued, "she had such a serious expression on her face. Mozu was like that when he was a newborn."

"Mozu claims that she smiled at him." Kirin chuckled. "I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was probably gas."

"I think she did smile." The corners of Miza's mouth turned up. "She knew we loved her."

"Then this is a good thing." Raised voices came from the direction of the hotel as the revelers moved their party out into the outdoor pools. Kirin stood swiftly and held out his hand. "Come -- we must go now."

With his help, Miza managed to glide a good distance before she began to tire and Kirin had to carry her again. A silvery snake of a river came into view as they crested the foothills. Spiraling in for a landing, fine gravel crunched under Kirin's feet. He carried Miza to a sheltered nook in a cedar grove overlooking the water.

"This looks to be a promising spot," Miza commented as Kirin began to dig through his knapsack. "I guess we're still going to fish, _neh_?"

"I certainly plan to," Kirin commented dryly. "We haven't had any decent food in weeks. Kiyo cooks mostly vegetables and Bana's curry curls my hair." He took out a length of fishing line, baited it, and tossed it out towards a promising eddy of rippling circles on the water's surface.

She laughed. "I see you've missed my cooking."

"It is only one of your many talents, Miza-_san_." He caught a glimpse of her smirk out of the corner of his eye as he was securing his line and felt his ears grow hot. "What?"

"It just occurred to me that this is the first time that we've been alone together since that night," she ventured. "You've always been very careful to keep your distance."

"It was not the sort of situation that I ever expected to find myself in. If my actions offended you, I apologize."

"No, it was my fault for being too forward. O-tama told me that females are more conservative in Ishimura."

"You were not the problem." Kirin shrugged as he sat back down besides her. "The last female I was with was not as kind as you. She made it difficult for me to want to be intimate with anyone ever again."

"Ah." She raised both brow ridges. "She used you poorly then."

"Indeed she did."

"Perhaps I should take advantage of you more often." Miza tilted her head coquettishly and fluttered her lashes. It was the most that she had been like herself in weeks.

"As much as I would enjoy a good pillowing," Kirin admitted, "you are in no shape for it! I would break you in two!" He scowled at her. "You're nothing but bird bones and feathers at the moment."

"Sadly, you are probably right," Miza agreed, sighing as she put her head on her arms. "I would have found it comforting." She looked away listlessly.

Kirin was torn -- he didn't want Miza to sink back into depression now that she was starting to show some signs of life. He weighed her emotional well-being against his own Ishimuran morality and made a choice that he hoped that he would not regret. "I know I certainly found it so," he replied. "Perhaps when your strength is back and you are rested, you will allow me to return the favor."

"Really?" Miza's feathered crest rose as she regarded him with renewed interest.

"I have said so, have I not?" Tentatively, he reached out and caressed the downy feathers on her brow with curled fingers. "I've thought often of that night. It was good to feel wanted again."

She nuzzled his hand. "Then why wait so long to tell me so?"

"Bushido teaches us to respect all things," he explained carefully as he forced himself not to react. "My needs were inconsequential compared to your honor."

"And now?"

"I think your needs are more important than my honor." The fishing line twitched and he checked it out of habit. "Even Goro seemed to think so."

The grass rustled beneath her as Miza sat up in surprise. "Goro? But he --?

" -- is just as worried about you as Mozu is." The line twitched again and Kirin began pulling it towards him in a smooth, even motion. "He arranged to take the Three to the ballgame so I would have my evening free. He says that you two fought and that he's afraid that you wouldn't want to hear anything he'd have to say to you."

"He sent you in his place?"

"Something like that -- a-HA!" Jumping up on his toes, Kirin jerked the line sharply just as a brown speckled trout broke the water. He hooked the line with his wing spur and raised it to keep his prize above the water as he reeled it in. "What a beauty!"

"Oh, I see where your heart lies!" Miza chuckled. "I think I'm going to be jealous of a fish!"

"Only until after dinner," Kirin shot back. "I'm sure you can think of a suitable dessert."

"In that case, the sooner we eat my rival for your affections the better!"

Her pert retort was encouraging as Miza began to take an interest in her surroundings and began to gather the fallen twigs and branches around her for a cooking fire. Kirin smirked to himself as he re-baited the hook and prepared to try again.

_**To be continued in Part IV of "Ronin" …..**_


	4. Part IV

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly Towle appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

**Part IV**

_Whether it was a moment of weakness or an unfortunate flaw of character, when Miza and I finally gave into the physical attraction that we had for one another, it began to heal some of the emotional damage that we had both suffered. The bouts of anxiety and self-doubt that had been caused by Ikeike's betrayal began to lessen as I allowed myself to be intimate again. Other Tengu females came to be my lovers as well; I suppose they considered me to be a fascinating new toy and everyone wanted a turn, with the exception of O-tama and a few of the elder females. I gained a new-found respect for Doryo after a rambunctious encounter with Bana; she put me through so many twists and turns that I could hardly walk afterwards. It is no wonder that he's so dour and disagreeable – it's all he has energy for! _

_During the years that followed, life in the Tengu village continued as it had for generations. My students flourished and began to show promising signs of their potential. Mozu's quick intelligence outshone his small size and his sensitivity made him the perfect healer's apprentice. I altered his lessons to include more science and he spent alternate evenings training with O-tama. Study had tempered Takakura's impulsiveness and, as he was being groomed to one day lead the Tengu, I tried to give him a well-rounded education in social studies, world history, and politics. He picked up languages easily so in addition to English, I taught him Chinese and Russian. Tancho remained as easy-going and amiable as ever; he was a bright student but not an especially studious one. However, hand him a pencil or tools or a ball of clay, and his imagination soared to the sky. It was decided that he should be apprenticed to Goro to learn pottery. Tancho was the first to leave the schoolroom and I was sad to see him go._

_As the Three grew to maturity, I instructed them in martial arts. Goro and Makino assisted with this and the older males would gather to watch us. I began to taper off my trysts with the females at this time -- only prudent since their mates might be coming at my head with a weapon. It is a strange thing but very few males ever chided me about my affairs. Indeed, it was seldom ever mentioned even by Goro -- he clearly knew about our relationship but his offhand manner implied that he was not concerned in the least. It puzzled me because if Miza was my mate, I would have resented it deeply. It had been a bitter pill to swallow my pride and allow Ikeike to mate with another male out of necessity; I could not imagine why Goro would let our affair continue unless he was doing so for a reason of his own._

**_In the village of the Tengu_**

**Summer 2007**

The hollow clash of bamboo against bamboo echoed through the hills. Kirin twirled on one foot and swept his bo staff at Tancho's feet. The tall young gargoyle managed to evade the obvious move neatly; Tancho was finally outgrowing the clumsiness of the early grow spurt that made him tower over his rookery brothers and trip over his own feet. He grinned and missed Kirin's tufted tail whipping around his ankle and dumping him in the dirt.

Leaning on his staff, Kirin shook his head as he looked down on his pupil. "You've improved, Tancho," he said pleasantly, "but never stop to pat yourself on the back in the middle of a fight." He held out a hand to help the younger gargoyle up.

"Right you are, sensei," Tancho replied and pulled Kirin down in a rolling body toss.

Kirin let his momentum somersault him back onto his feet and countered with backhanded strike against Tancho's staff. The younger gargoyle parried his attack with a series of basic thrusts and blocks, conserving his strength against his teacher's knowledge and experience. Finally, Kirin was satisfied and nodded to Goro who was refereeing the match.

"Time!" the boar-tusked gargoyle called, holding up his hands. He grinned and thumped Tancho on the back. "You're doing very well, apprentice! I'd call this match a draw, wouldn't you, Kirin-_san_?"

"He made some mistakes but I can tell you've been sparring with him down at the clayworks." Pushing the sweaty hair out of his face, Kirin glanced over at the group of elders that were watching beyond the practice field. "What do you say, Takamatsu-_sama_? How is our long-legged crane shaping up?"

"I think once he fills out, Tancho will give you a very good fight indeed!" Takamatsu called out, nodding along with some of the other elders. "He's got your height and arm's reach now."

"True," toad-headed Doryo agreed, "in a few years, the tables will be turned, weapons master, you will see!"

Kirin caught Tancho rolling his eyes and snorted. "He has a point, Tancho," he commented. "You may not have Mozu's speed or Tak's fierceness but you keep your head. A warrior who can keep focused in battle will always win, no matter the outcome."

Tancho bowed succinctly. "Thank you, Master Kirin!" He took Kirin's bo staff from him and padded off to put them away with the other practice weapons. Mozu and Takakura intercepted him and the three young gargoyles enjoyed a moment of brotherly camaraderie. Mozu would always be shorter but his feather crest was now even with Tancho's shoulder. Takakura was slightly taller but his natural assertiveness made him stand out. All three young males were rushing towards adulthood before his very eyes and Kirin found himself missing the trio of mischievous imps that they had once been.

Passing Kirin a water jug, Makino caught him looking. "They have certainly grown, have they not?" the spike-studded male observed. "I had Tancho help me shore up the corner posts on one of the huts the other night and it shocked the life out of me to realize that I had to look up at him!" He chuckled proudly.

"Indeed," Goro said as he handed over a towel, "they will be grown warriors before we know it and we will be the old farts making snide comments in the shadows." His low-voiced quip made Kirin choke on a mouthful of water and Goro pounded him on the back jovially. "See what spending too much time with books will do, brother? Sensei here can hardly stomach a little water."

Makino laughed louder. "Then I suppose sampling the wine I've got ready to come out of the caves would be out of the question, _neh_? I've got to move my new batch in there to age or it won't be ready to drink for our solstice celebration next winter."

"Please," Kirin said gruffly as he cleared his throat, "you know very well that I can match you drink for drink." He craned his neck, twisting his torso this way and that. "Besides, I could use a little numbness. Not that I'd mention it to him, but Tancho got in some good hard whacks. I'm just lucky that he's pulling his strikes short or he'd do some real damage to me."

Goro nodded. "We will have to make some leather armor next winter. There should be some in storage but it will need to be repaired."

"Making the armor will be good training for them," Kirin agreed. "We can make do with the bamboo padding until then but leather would be better."

"Enough talk of this for one night," Makino said with a jerk of his head. "I'll fetch the sake and meet you at the hot springs."

Breaking up to go their own ways, Kirin went over to collect the basket of practice weapons. Tancho snatched it out of his hands however and promptly dropped it in Takakura's arms. "Oh, no, Master Kirin!" the tall youngster said. "Tonight it's Tak's turn to tidy up the schoolroom!"

Kirin glanced at the long-nosed gargoyle's sour expression. "Lost tonight's bet, did we?"

"It happens." Takakura glanced at Mozu with narrowed eyes. "Your lucky streak won't last forever, featherhead!"

"Maybe it will and maybe it won't," Mozu quipped pertly. "You just thought Tancho would fare better against Master Kirin than you did!"

"So he did," Kirin interceded before the inevitable squabble could start. "You always go for the obvious opening, Tak, the quick kill. Don't be so impatient! You have the wit – you just need the patience." He nudged the younger male and winked in passing.

"Where are you off to, sensei?" Mozu asked with ruffle of his feathered head crest. "Dinner is waiting in the main hall."

"What?" Tancho lifted his nose and sniffed loudly. "Can't you smell that? Someone's cracked open the sake cellar!" He sighed dramatically. "Isn't fighting you to a draw grounds for letting me drink for once?"

"You know the agreement -- until you pass your adult trials, no alcohol for you three!" Kirin snorted. "Besides, it's not like you won't sneak off and filch some from the human distilleries down the mountain."

"Bah, that weak stuff? It's not the same!" Takakura complained. "We're doing an adult's duty now – shouldn't we have some of the benefits as well?"

"Then prove it to me the next time you meet me in the ring," Kirin retorted. "Until then, stick to plum juice and mochi cakes!" He continued up the hill to the launching point on the bluffs overlooking the river.

Miza intercepted him at the top of the hill and thrust a cloth-covered bundle into his hands. "Here," she said with a knowing glance, "take these steamed buns. Kami knows I can't stop you from drinking, Kirin-_san_, but at least I can make sure that you have something in your stomach first!"

Opening the bundle, Kirin sniffed appreciatively at the aroma of spiced meat wafting out. "You worry needlessly, Miza, but thank you."

"Don't let them make you drink too much," she warned him, "or I will be upset!" She let her hand linger on his arm for moment. "Promise me that, _neh_?"

Kirin growled softly at her but he was smiling faintly as he did so. He patted her hand and then sailed off, letting the wind take him farther down the mountain.

The hot springs were situated in a deep ravine, an ideal place to meet away from the tight-knit closeness of the group. A narrow waterfall ran in rivulets down a sheer wall and a massive grey granite slab formed a natural partition in the bathing pool. Goro and Makino were already there, lounging in the shallows with several stoneware jugs between them.

"There you are!" Makino called out as Kirin landed. "We were beginning to think you had forgotten us."

"Not at all," Kirin answered as he put his bundle down on a small boulder. "Miza sent some of her meat buns along." He laughed. "She seemed to think that we needed something to eat with our sake." He moved up into the trees to disrobe where the others had tossed their garments over a low branch.

"Ah, Kiyo made a similar comment when she caught us stringing up the wine jugs." Makino laughed. "Apparently we are just as bad as the Three when it comes to sneaking off and getting into trouble."

"The females are nearly in season," Goro observed as Kirin settled into the steaming water. "Did you see how they were watching the sparring match earlier?"

"Bah, Miza always watches like a hawk whenever I am working with the Three," Kirin said dismissively as Makino filled his sake cup. "She still thinks of them as hatchlings fresh out of the rookery."

"True, she flinches with every punch," Makino chuckled, "but I don't think her attention was entirely on them this time."

"What?" Kirin scowled at his drinking companions. "I think you are seeing things!"

"No, Makino-_san_ is right," Goro agreed. "I know Miza's moods well. She has preening her feathers and being more attentive than usual. Besides, I caught her drinking some of O-tama's special spring tonic."

"Her too?" Makino's brow went up, making his head seem as though it was bristling with spikes like a hedgehog. "I tasted it in Kiyo's kisses earlier." He pursed his lips speculatively. "I wonder if Bana's taking it as well."

Kirin sipped his sake. "And the significance of this is?"

Makino topped off his cup. "O-tama makes a special tonic that the females take just before they start their breeding cycle. It makes them produce more than one egg."

"She only gives it to mature females though," Goro continued. "Young females aren't physically ready for multiple egg-laying. I was surprised to see Miza taking it – she is so slender that egg-laying has never been easy for her – but I suppose she has set her mind to it."

Frowning, Kirin stared at the whirling ripples on the water's surface. Miza had been quite demanding lately; the other females had been content with brief dalliances but he and Miza had continued to meet away from prying eyes. It wasn't love but a mutual addiction to the pleasure gained by their illicit affair. It worried him to think that Miza might be risking her health for the sake of regaining the hatchling that she lost.

"Kirin-_san_?" A broad hand waved in front of his eyes. "Makino, I think you gave him too much sake!"

"Nonsense," Kirin said as he shook off his momentary lapse, "there is no such thing as too much sake! _Banzai!_" He tossed down his cupful in one swallow and forced himself not to wince as the raw alcohol sizzled down his throat.

"In any case," Makino continued, "the breeding season will be here before we know it. The early harvest of vegetables is in and the mid-season crops have been sown. Sakura has offered to take charge of the kitchens and Karasu will tend the gardens."

"I was thinking of taking the Three on a fishing trip," Kirin said absently. "The Modori-Yamame fishing is supposed to be very good on the Agano River in early summer. I've always wanted to try my hand at that."

"You're not staying?" Goro drawled out uncertainly.

"Doryo's already made several pointed comments about having too many spectators around." Kirin snorted. "If the old fool wouldn't bellow like a bull in rut when he is with Bana, the Three would not be so curious!"

"You make a good point," Makino laughed as he re-filled their cups. "Doryo's problem is that he's no longer able to hear how loud he is so he never believes us when we tell him."

"Does Miza know that you'll be away?" Goro asked suddenly. "I know she wanted you here for the breeder's moon."

Both Kirin and Makino stared at Goro in stunned amazement. Everyone knew that the Tengu females had been trysting with the Ishimuran gargoyle but in typical Japanese fashion, it was never spoken of to preserve the unity of the clan. Bringing the subject out into the open caused an uncomfortable silence to settle over the three males.

Sloshing the contents of the wine jug, Makino announced, "I'm hungry. I'll go fetch the rolls now, shall I?" The spiked gargoyle splashed noisily to the bank without at a glance back at either of them.

"Goro-_san_," Kirin began in a low voice, "I have no intentions of interfering with –"

"It is only common sense!" Goro hissed urgently. "You would bring new blood into the clan! Miza and I have talked it over and we have agreed – I am willing to step aside. Doryo and Makino wish to keep to their mates but I'm sure if you preferred someone else--"

"No!" Kirin said. The word came out more loudly than he intended and he took a deep breath to settle his nerves. "Thank you for your generous offer, Goro-_san_, but I could not possibly accept."

"Bah! Do they not have open flights in Ishimura?"

Kirin blinked. "Well, yes, but later in the season when most of the mated couples have conceived. Then unattached males are allowed to mate with whatever breeding females are left."

"This is simpler then!" Goro glowered at him. "I do not understand the problem!"

"Let me think about it," Kirin said as he watched Makino stepping back into the water. "Miza has said nothing to me and it is her choice whether she wants an open flight or not. Let me speak to her first before I give you my answer."

"Very well," Goro conceded unhappily as he eased back against the boulder. "It has been some time since we spoke of it. Perhaps she has changed her mind."

"She would not be the first female to do so, _neh_?" As he had hoped, Kirin's joke made both of the other males laugh and they were able to move past to more congenial topics of conversation. He listened to his companions talked but his thoughts were troubled.

Miza's round golden eyes lit up with excitement before he finished speaking. "Oh, I cannot believe it! He really said that to you!" A ripple of pleasure ruffled her feathered crest as it often did when she was pleased.

"It was embarrassing!" Kirin looked around to see if anyone had heard her outburst. He had tracked Miza down to the storage caves behind the kitchen shack under the guise of returning the cloth that their dinner had been wrapped in. "It is one thing for everyone to know and quite another to talk about it in public!"

"I know, Kirin-_san_," she crooned soothingly. "It's just –" she paused to bit her lower lip "—I do not know how to tell you this."

He raised a cautious eyebrow. "What?"

Miza sighed and her crest drooped. "You know that Goro and I have had our differences, _neh_? That he was not as attracted to me as he once was?"

"Yes?"

"Well, after you and I began pillowing," she said using the polite Japanese euphemism for sex, "Goro became curious. He wondered why you pleased me so much and what it was that you did differently."

Kirin's lip curled in horrified realization. "He didn't –"

"The first time he watched us, it was an accident or so he says." Miza shrugged. "All I know was that the quality of his lovemaking began to get better." She laughed. "I think he must have learned by example."

"_Iiiiiiye_!" Kirin walked a few steps away, shaking his head. "Sweet Buddha! No wonder he's never been upset with us – we've been entertaining him, the _ecchi__ bakayaro_!"

"You misunderstand." He looked back at her. "Goro sometimes has trouble, you know, rising to the occasion." She made a rather impolite gesture and hid her hands behind her as if she were embarrassed.

"Really?"

"Oh, yes… that's one of the reasons that we seldom mated. O-tama gives him something that helps during the breeding season but he always hates taking it." She came up behind him and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "When he watches us, it excites him."

"You mean--?"

"Sometimes he finds me after we part and I get to be pleasured all over again." She gave a low chuckle. "First a famine and now a feast! Between the two of you, it's a wonder I am able to walk at all."

"How can you act so calm about this?" he demanded, pulling away from her. "Were you ever planning to tell me?" Anger fought with shameful embarrassment at the thought of Goro watching them, hidden from sight while Kirin and Miza coupled like rutting beasts. "Didn't you think I had a right to know?"

"I thought of telling you many times," Miza said meekly, "but I was enjoying it too much. Goro had always been too quick before but watching you taught him to slow down and give me pleasure. He's become a better lover because of you."

Kirin didn't know what to think. On one hand, he was happy for Miza because he knew how miserable she had been trapped in a loveless relationship; on the other, he was mortified to learn that Goro had been spying on them. He had always thought of sex as a deeply intimate act between two people. To think that Goro had been a hidden witness was more than Kirin could bear. Unable to speak, he stalked outside. There was a stack of uncut firewood and he began to split it with a short axe.

"You're angry." Out of the corner of his eye, Kirin watched as Miza collected a basket of peas and took a seat on a nearby bench. She began shelling the peas into a wooden bowl. "I can't blame you – I know I was upset when Goro first told me."

He tossed the split pieces of wood into a separate pile. "And yet it didn't upset you enough to tell me about it." Setting another piece of wood up, he cleaved it in two. "How long have you known?"

"Five years."

Kirin missed and wedged the axe into the chopping block. "Five **_years_**? Honestly, Miza – how could you keep **_that_** a secret? Knowing that he was **_spying_** on us?"

"Look at how you're overreacting!" Miza countered. "Goro's tolerated you all these years far better than you're tolerating him!"

Kirin knew she was right but he wasn't about to admit it. He tugged at the axe and pulled it free. "I don't like being used, Miza. Perhaps now that Goro's finally acting like a proper mate, we should end things between us." He sighed bitterly. "I've had my doubts about this for a long time. I like and respect Goro and it's not right that we keep doing this, whether he approves or not."

For several minutes, there was nothing but the soft trickle of peas falling into the bowl and the intermittent thump of the axe chopping wood. Finally, Miza broke the silence. "Did Goro say anything about the breeder's moon?"

"He said that you and he spoke of it." Kirin looked anywhere but at her. "He seems to think that it's important to bring new blood into the clan."

"It's the truth, is it not?" Miza countered. "You are of Ishimura; your clan was not poisoned by radiation as ours was when we were living near Nagasaki." She put her bowl aside and came up to him. "I know how much you regretted not seeing your first egg hatch, Kirin-_san_. Won't you share this one with me?"

Briefly, Kirin considered telling her the real reason why he was reluctant. Being with Miza had eased some of his longing for a mate, in spite of the fact that they had few mutual interests. She was an excellent cook and ruled the rookery with a firm but gentle hand but her world revolved around the Tengu. Any attempt to interest her in books or the outside world was met with polite resistance. The logical part of him knew that he should back out gracefully; the dreamer in him had been daydreaming of being mated again.

"Kirin-_san_?" Miza pulled him into the shadows of the kitchen shack. She rubbed her feathered brow against his chest like a preening cat. "Just one night? Goro will not begrudge you that and I will be content." Her hands reached low, raking up his muscular thighs and up under edge of his tunic. "Please, Kirin-_san_? I would so love to have an egg of yours."

"Miza." Stepping out of reach, Kirin took a deep breath. "I will tell you what I told Goro – I will think about it." Before she could try more persuasive measures, he quickly left her behind and went away to try and clear his head.

As it so often happened when his thoughts were heavy, his footsteps took him up the cedar-lined slope to O-tama's small hut. The silver-haired gargoyle with the bent wing was sitting in the center of her wide porch, surrounded by several small pottery saucers and a shallow bamboo tray. Her hands darted from the tray to the saucers in an intricate dance that formed patterns in the air. She spared him a brief glance at his approach.

"Good evening, Kirin-_san_," O-tama said pleasantly. "Are the sake jugs dry already?"

"We were only sampling Makino's latest batch," Kirin answered as he sat down on the edge of the porch, "not wallowing in it."

"You drink more than is good for you." She clucked her tongue at him. "Mark my words, you will regret it later."

"This evening I had more reason to do so." Kirin sighed deeply. "Miza wants me to breed with her and Goro all but gave his blessing to it."

"What would you like to do?"

"I do not know." He watched her dancing hands for a moment. "O-tama, what do I tell her?" Kirin asked in a low voice. "Miza is being very insistent!"

The Tengu healer kept her eyes on the tray of dried seeds that she was deftly sorting. "What does Miza want, Kirin-_san_?"

"You know…" he dropped down to his haunches besides her, "she mentioned it once before after that first time in the bath house. She thinks breeding with me would benefit the clan, because I'm an outsider." He tactfully decided not to mention the rest of their conversation.

"Did you tell her why you do not want to?"

"I couldn't," he sighed bitterly. "All I could think of saying was that it wouldn't be fair to Goro. Miza's been so good to me, O-tama. I am honor bound to repay her for her kindness – bushido says so -- but you and I both know why I cannot."

"Actually," O-tama said slowly as her hands continued her work, "I've been giving your problem some thought."

"_Neh_"

"I give some of the older males a tonic that is good for revitalizing their energy." She paused to give him a shrewd look. "Rumor has it that you do not need that, of course, but the herbs in it will also increase fertility. The healer before me taught me their secrets and I've used them successfully on other gargoyles."

Kirin chewed on the end of one of his barbels. "The human doctors seemed very certain," he said reluctantly. "Are you sure?"

"Part of being a healer is being able to take a patient's symptoms and to treat it based on experience and knowledge." O-tama set her work aside and dusted off her hands. "This means great hardship on your part."

"_Neh_"

She smiled slyly. "No more sake and you take the tonic that I make for you three times a night until the breeder's moon."

"Which will no doubt taste absolutely vile," Kirin concluded wryly. "Your cures are a double-edged blessing."

"As it should be," O-tama replied glibly, "or else no one would ever want to get well."

_With many doubts and misgivings, I agreed to spend one night of the breeding season with Miza. I owed her that much and the code of bushido demanded nothing less. Both Miza and Goro thanked me profusely. They seemed to have overcome whatever differences that they'd had and even though I would miss pillowing, I was pleased that Miza and Goro were happy with each other. _

_I forced myself to gulp down the strong ginseng infusion that O-tama made for me and I counted the days when I could drink sake again and wash the horrible taste from my mouth. Mozu would sniff and make the most incredulous faces; I suspect that O-tama invented a whole new flavor just to torment me. He alone of the Three might have guessed what was going on but he had learned a healer's discretion and said nothing; shortly afterwards, Takakura proposed that he and his brothers fly up to the Agano River on their own to set up camp. __Takamatsu__ overruled any objections by setting the occasion as one of their adulthood ordeals. I supplied my students with maps and last minute advice and they were gone long before the Breeder's Moon rose above the __Rokko__Mountains_

_My stomach was in knots as I dressed in the cotton yukata that Miza had made for me. I had gone into seclusion at a shrine farther up the mountains a few nights earlier to meditate and prepare myself. I felt as nervous as I did on the eve of my first breeding season so many years ago. There was no reason too – Miza and I were too well-acquainted with each other to be shy – but I could not help it. A part of me hoped beyond hope that O-tama's potion would do what the human doctors could not and grant my heart's desire – a child of my own. _

_I approached Miza's hut from the high trail. Hanging oil lamps cast a welcoming glow through washi paper panels and the warm aroma of soup broth hastened my steps. Miza was kneeling by a ceramic hot pot when I entered, with plate of finely sliced meat and vegetables ready to dip into the hot soup and bowls of hot steamed rice to eat it with. Before either of us could say a word, the growl of my empty stomach echoed around the room. It was just the tension breaker that we needed as Miza scolded me soundly for not taking better care of myself. The food led to conversation which led to flirtation which led to the over-stuffed futon in the corner of the room._

_Shadows danced on the rice paper walls as we coupled but I paid them no heed. I was too caught up in the moment, too overpowered by my own senses to notice one large shadow detach itself from the others and drift across the room. By the time, I realized what was happening, it was too late to turn back._

O-tama found him in the schoolroom, loose robe clutched around him for decency as he sank deeper into his sake cups. Kirin scowled blearily at the silver-haired Tengu healer with her owl-like face. "No," he said firmly. "I don't want relief. No more." He tossed down another mouthful and let the potent rice wine burn down his throat. "I've had it with you females using me."

"Then I will pour," O-tama said contritely, "because you are wasting good sake by slopping it all over the floor." She took the bottle out of his hand and tutted at it. "Lucky for you, I've brought another bottle."

"Did you know?"

"That Goro likes males as well as females, _neh_?" She sighed. "I told Miza that you were not of that nature but she was afraid if you knew, it would affect your performance."

"Someone should have said something," Kirin said reproachfully. "All I was told was that watching helped to arouse him." He accepted the cup O-tama offered him. "I wasn't comfortable about it but it was for a good cause." His eyes watered. "I was helping to make a new life. In some small way, it would have been my child too."

"Did he do something that disturbed you?"

Kirin took a deep shaky breath. "What he did wasn't totally unpleasant but it startled me. I did not expect him to join us, much less—" He shuddered and tossed back his sake in one swallow. "Why did I not see it sooner?"

"Goro has always kept his feelings to himself." O-tama quietly refilled his cup. "He once told me that he admired you. I did not realize what he truly meant."

"Two of my rookery brothers prefer males but even in my youth when we were all exploring our sexuality, I always preferred females." He couldn't look at her. "When Goro touched me, I -- I was so shocked! Had I not been in control of my emotions – I could have easily killed him!"

"But you did not."

"Miza was very clever and got between us before I did something regrettable." He held out his cup for more. "They are mates. They understand each other."

"It is the way of mates."

"I had a mate once."

"Oh?" O-tama raised both brow ridges. "I had wondered."

"I loved being mated." His lip twisted. "I was looking forward to being a father. We tried but by mid-season, the healers encouraged us to seek other partners, for the good of the clan. She conceived with the first male she tried but none of my lovers ever quickened. After my condition was diagnosed, my mate demanded that we sever our mating bond." His voice shook. "It was the full ritual in front of the whole clan. I was so ashamed." A tear ran down his face and dripped off the end of one of his fish-like barbels. "Almost as much as I am now."

Silently, O-tama took him into her arms. Kirin began to sob like a little child as she rocked him. It would have been an incongruous sight to anyone passing the schoolroom – the aged female with her withered wing and the fierce antlered male who resembled a dragon more than a gargoyle. As a rule, Kirin kept a very tight rein on his feelings. The code of bushido demanded nothing less but once the dam had been broken, all his deep-hidden pain poured forth in a flood of emotion.

"It's not fair! I have no mate! I have no child! I have nothing!" A deep lassitude began to fall over him and he began to suspect that O-tama had doctored the wine. "Is this to be my fate? To be used and tossed aside like garbage?"

"I'm sure Miza and Goro didn't mean –"

Kirin thumped his chest. "It's so empty in here! I miss loving – I miss it SO much! I don't want to be alone – but I can't keep doing this, this uninvolved, heartless mating." He felt faint and laid his head in her lap. "All I want is someone to care for me – a female to be mine." His eyes wanted to close and he fought the urge to sleep. "I wouldn't care about anything else, so long as she loved me."

"There, there," the Tengu healer said soothingly. "Life is sometimes most unfair. You have a great heart, Kirin, and that is why you hurt so deeply."

"Tired of it," he said, his speech slurring. "So lonely."

"I know, hush." She began to stroke his antlered brow ridges as if she were calming a small hatchling, not a grown male twice her size. "Kami knows why you are destined to suffer this way, but know this, Kirin: for every bad thing that happens, it must be balanced by something good."

He mumbled a reply, but the words were too distorted to be understood. O-tama merely nodded. "Rest easy," she whispered, "I will not leave you this night. You are not alone. Ssssh."

Kirin slept, and for once, did not dream.

_I dimly remember pouring my heart out to O-tama – I tend to be over-talkative and maudlin when inebriated. I left the next night to join the Three at the __Agano__River__ and we stayed there for the duration of the breeding season. The young ones flew back to the Tengu village but I stayed away until the first snows. Too much had happened and I could not face my adopted clan just yet. Instead I went on a tour of the temples that were scattered all over the __Nara__ prefecture. My heart was weary with wanting and I found solace in solitude._

_If I am destined to be alone, then it is best that I grow accustomed to it and accept my fate. It is clear to me now that there is no one for me and it is folly to wish otherwise._

**_To be continued in Part V of "Ronin" ….._**


	5. Part V

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly Towle appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

Author's Note: The next few chapters will overlap events that occurred in Tengu but will be presented from Kirin's POV.

****

**Part V**

**_From the journal of _****_Kirin_****_, teacher and weapons master, formerly of Ishimura_**

**_Kobe_********_Japan_****_ --_********2015**

_After that night, my relationship with the Tengu changed. They still considered me an adopted member of the clan and welcomed me back with open arms when I returned but it was an uneasy homecoming. Gossip had done its job in my absence. Miza and Goro both apologized profusely to me but the damage had been done; the easy camaraderie that had been between us was gone. I sequestered myself in the schoolroom so that I would not have to watch as Miza's pregnancy progressed. Every time I caught sight of her swelling form, it was like a vise squeezing my heart. When the weather cleared in early spring, the Three and I went down the coast to harvest the salmon run. By the time we returned with salted, smoked, and fresh fish, all of the breeding females had successfully laid their eggs. I never learned how many eggs Miza laid nor did I ever want to know._

_The years passed and my students made the transition to adulthood but even then, they still looked to me as their teacher. We formed a patrol wing when human activity began to encroach on Tengu territory. The elders wanted to retreat higher into the mountains but __Takamatsu__'s health had begun to fail and no one wanted to risk such a large scale move and endanger him. I knew that there would come a time when the Tengu will not be able to hide in the shadows and my young warriors would need to know how to deal with it. _

The evening patrol through the peaks and valleys of the Rojo Mountains had been uneventful but as they came closer to home, Kirin began to feel uneasy. A strange scent was adrift on the warm summer wind. The Three had been flying in formation but one by one they all began to glide closer.

"I don't get it," Takakura said finally. "All the humans are bedded down for the night. The construction vehicles at the highway are locked up tight. There's nothing going on so why do I feel like my skin's crawling?"

"Lice?" Tancho suggested lightly. "You were awfully friendly with those chickens at that farm the other night."

"Shut up!"

"O-tama has a vermicide powder that works wonderfully on feather mites," Mozu offered helpfully. "It really will relieve your itching."

"I am NOT itchy!"

"That's enough!" Kirin said firmly before the fight could really get going. "I swear, the smallest irritation sets the lot of you off these days. O-tama needs to dose you all with one of her special tonics!"

"Ugh," Tancho said, wrinkling his nose. "Couldn't we all just get drunk instead?"

It was a tempting proposal but before Kirin could agree or disagree, they crested the top of Mount Maya and were greeted by the shocking sight of a stranger hiking up the overgrown trail that led to the old Tenjo temple site. It was only by luck that they had approached on the downwind side of the mountain. Taking cover beneath the tree shadows, they could see that the newcomer was dressed in human clothes – a sleeveless black shirt and khaki shorts – but that was the only thing human about it. The red skin, horns, wings, and tail clearly identified it as gargoyle.

"Who is that?" Mozu asked wonderingly. "Is someone from Ishimura, sensei?"

Narrowing his eyes, Kirin murmured, "I do not know. This one doesn't look like anyone that I remember."

The stranger edged around the shard-strewn circle where past leaders of the Tengu stood frozen in stone sleep. Pausing at the rim of the ravine, moonlight glinted off of the metal staff that the red-skinned gargoyle was carrying.

Mozu's beak dropped open and he pawed at Kirin's arm.

"_Neh_?"

"Sensei?" the feathered Tengu asked breathlessly. "That's a female!"

"What?" Takakura started to look for himself but Kirin jerked him back down before he could break their cover. Fortunately, the stranger heard nothing as she looped up and over through the ravine to neatly land on the giant granite boulder known as Tengu Rock.

"Fool boy," Kirin growled softly, "think with your head, not that thing between your legs!" He narrowed his eyes and squinted along Mozu's line of sight but in the end, he had to trust the younger gargoyle's keener eyesight. "Are you sure? It could just be a male with long hair."

"No, sensei! When she turned to look downriver, the moonlight was shining on her front and, well…" Mozu cupped his hands out in front of his chest. "No male is shaped like that!"

"Trust featherhead and his hawk eyes to get the first look," Takakura said ruefully. "What are we waiting for, Master Kirin? Let's go make introductions!" His grin was a shining knife blade in the dark.

"We must cast our net carefully," Kirin said softly. "You and Tancho stay downwind but spread out. Mozu and I will circle around to keep her from going skyward."

Takakura started to protest but Tancho interrupted. "I see what you're thinking, sensei," he said, "you two will flush out the bird and we will catch her." He clapped a hand on his long-nosed brother's shoulder. "She will not get past us, _neh_?"

"Yes," Takakura nodded, a wicked smile on his lips. "She'll be in good hands with us!"

Mozu rolled his eyes. "I'll take the far side of the river, shall I, sensei?"

"Stay below the treetops if you can," Kirin agreed. He didn't need to worry with Mozu; the feathered flyer was far more stealthier than his rookery brothers, both on land and in the air. "I'll come around the _sojobo_ circle to the base of Tengu Rock to confront her. If she flies, you'll have to head her off." He glanced at Takakura and Tancho. "Both of you be ready for anything."

"What if she stands her ground?" Takakura countered. "I saw the way she was twirling that metal staff of hers. She looks like she knows what she's doing."

"In that case, I will keep her attention while you three move closer." Kirin stared back in the direction of the intruder and huffed. "She doesn't look like she'll be that much trouble."

Kirin approached from downwind. It was infuriating the way the strange gargoyle was perched on Tengu Rock like a sightseeing tourist, and he fully intended to punish her for desecrating one of the Tengu's most sacred landmarks. He waved Mozu back and crept closer, melting into the dark green shadows of the forest.

The irreverent creature was grooming her hair, using a selection of implements from an unrolled bundle. Kirin shook his head in disbelief; surely, she couldn't be so unaware of her surroundings not to have sensed their presence. She switched from a wide-toothed comb to a finer one and then to a soft-bristled brush. Her long dark hair took on a glossy sheen that reflected the moonlight like ripples on the river rushing through the gorge below.

The beaked female tilted her head to one side as her hands performed each stroke with a grace worthy of a geisha. The draping of her wings completed the illusion as if she were wearing robes of dark red silk. She closed her eyes and she seemed totally at peace with the world, basking in the simple task of brushing her hair. Kirin found himself holding his breath to keep from breaking the spell.

Something snapped upwind; probably Tancho stepping on a dry branch with his enormous feet. Her beak pointed in the direction of the sound, she quickly put away her things and took up her metal bo staff in an efficient manner. She swiveled to survey the area and Takakura had been correct; she might be female but she carried herself like a fighter. Walking towards the tree line, she struck a wary pose and spoke. "I know you are there. I mean no harm to this place. I am traveling from the lands of the Ishimura clan to seek the Tengu."

She spoke perfect Japanese but with a curious accent that he couldn't place. Her words were formal and proper but the cocky self-assuredness beneath them rubbed him the wrong way. Kirin answered her gruffly, "You travel a long way, young one, if you have come all the way from Ishimura."

"It is a journey worth the risk," she replied, "and I am not afraid of danger."

"Indeed." He circled around her as she entered the forest. "Why do you seek the Tengu?"

"I seek their wisdom."

It was the most cliché thing Kirin had ever heard. He wondered if the foolish creature had read one too many historical romances. "No, you don't – no one comes just for wisdom," he snapped hotly. "Speak plainly – you come because you want to hide from the world. I've seen it before, foolish hatchlings like you who think that they're too different, that they're too ugly, and that no one will ever love them." He came closer – he could see the beads in her braided sidelocks and count the hoops and studs in her over-decorated ears. "The Tengu have no use for warriors that don't have the heart to face their own destinies! Go back home, girl – I have no time for you!"

Without warning, she whirled and she lunged at him with her bo staff, the blow catching him across the forearms and forcing him to go on the defensive. Kirin had the greater strength but it was a worthy opponent that could catch him off-guard. Her fighting style was a flurry of techniques that used her speed and agility. Scarlet fire flared in her eyes.

"You know," she snarled, "I'm getting really sick and tired of people talking to me like that." She leaped up, twirling around her staff and kicking him in the chest. "If you think I'm going to take that from you, think again!" Her backswing caught him on the side of the head with a rattling crash.

He stumbled and drew his tachi – a curved long sword nearly half his opponent's height. "You show spirit," Kirin said bitingly. "But can you show skill?"

The impudent wench actually smirked. "Hey, do gargoyles duel in the woods?"

_With those words, a duel in the woods soon turned into a brawl that resonated throughout the hills. I found myself being challenged by a slip of a girl half my size and I liked it not at all. She danced and weaved around my moves, further infuriating me until I struck at her with all my strength. Imagine my surprise when she succeeded in blocking my move! I forced my hand and broke her bo staff, but this proved to be an disadvantage; she became a force of nature, furious red whirlwind of fists and feet that I was hard-pressed to counter. In the end, I forced to resort to less honorable means to subdue her._

_Unfortunately for me, she had no scruples in retaliating in kind. I do not know what hurt worse – my barbels being yanked off my face or my testicles being rammed to my ears. Needless to say, I was not in a charitable mood by the time we brought our unexpected guest back to the village. _

"What is this?" O-tama called, scurrying forward with Mozu on her heels. "My apprentice says you have hurt her."

"Just a simple nerve pinch," Kirin grunted as he touched down. He waited a moment while O-tama checked the unconscious female in his arms. "She's a wild one, this. She gave me a good fight and then she took out the Three."

"All of you?" Takamatsu said, coming to the front of the gathering crowd. The old raven-headed clan leader leaned heavily on his staff as he peered curiously at the newcomer. "She even defeated you, Kirin?"

"Not exactly."

His students snickered and long-nosed Takakura spoke up. "She kicked him right in the stones." He sobered up when Kirin glared over his shoulder at him but his eyes danced. "Well, she did!" He and his rookery brothers laughed and a few of the adults joined them.

O-tama put a hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"

Kirin shrugged. "Nothing's hurt but my pride," he admitted grudgingly. "Where do you want her? She weighs practically nothing but I'm not going to carry her around all night."

"This way," the healer said and led the way to her personal hut. She spread a padded futon out on the floor and Kirin laid the stranger gently down upon it. He paused to brush a strand of hair from her face. He had been too busy fending her off to really look at her before. She wasn't that bad-looking as gargoyles went; her waist-length hair was dark and lustrous and her skin was a coral-tinted terra cotta red. Her beaked face was a bit of a disadvantage but he'd hardly noticed when they had been battling.

"Do you know her name?" O-tama asked, busying herself with lighting a brazier.

"It never came up," he replied. "She was too busy kicking my tail." He noticed a bulge in one of the flapped pockets on her shorts and checked it. "Well, well," he said as he took out a slim metal pad. "Computers have come along way, I see." He patted down her other pockets as well, turning up an aerosol can. "Pepper spray -- this is a fun girl. She also had a stunner that gave Tancho quite a shock."

O-tama was digging through the stranger's bag. "Here's something," she said handing over a bound sheaf of papers. "This is a book, I think. The elders will want you to examine that. Otherwise the rest is just clothes and personal effects. She's got a very nice yukata in here. Perhaps I should hang it up."

The stranger moaned and shifted, rolling onto her right side. Kirin frowned at the device on her left arm. "What's that?"

"An ornament of some sort?" O-tama suggested.

"No, it's electronic. That's a LED display." He lifted her arm and carefully slid the arm band off. "Strange."

"What?"

Kirin smiled absently, turning her hand over in his. "How can she hit so hard with hands as soft as these?"

O-tama rolled her eyes. "You are turning into a dirty old man, thinking such things! She's barely left the rookery!"

He shrugged. "You wouldn't know it by the way she fights. Someone started training her right out of the egg."

Nudging him aside, the silver-haired healer began her examination by checking her patient's pulse points. "Her chi is in good balance," O-tama said, nodding approvingly. She passed her hands gently over the young female's body. "Her muscles are well-defined. She is older than she looks, I think, but she has not had a breeding season yet."

Kirin raised an eyebrow. "How can you tell?"

"Her hips are still quite narrow." O-tama demonstrated by placing her hands on the stranger's body. "A breeding female's hips become widened by the passage of the egg through the birth canal."

He winced. "Sounds painful."

"Well, you did ask," O-tama said with a playful smirk on her lips. "You are very curious tonight, Kirin-_san_. One would think you are interested in our visitor."

"Only in her prowess as a fighter," he huffed indignantly. "Whoever she is, it's quite possible that she cracked my ribs." He rubbed his side in an effort to gain some sympathy.

O-tama merely shook her head. "I daresay you gave as good as you received," she said simply. "Go take these things to Takamatsu and the council. I'll be along as soon as she's awake."

_Our mysterious visitor turned out to be none other than the daughter of a living legend. The records of both the Tengu and the Ishimura clans mentioned the twelfth century exploits of Lady Sata and her mate, the Timedancer. When I spoke to Kai last, he had mentioned that the Ancestress had returned with her family, I was intrigued but never expected to encounter them. The records speak highly of Lady Sata's grace and poise as well as her deadly skill with the sword, often describing her as a flower with steel blades for petals. Her daughter, Ariana, inherited much of her mother's talent but wielded it with the brash impetuousness of youth. I had sparred with her twice, once at Tengu Rock and again the following night as a formal match witnessed by the clan. She did not fight like anyone that I have met before – just when I had her style figured out, she would abruptly change to counter me. I enjoyed the challenge she presented – but I despised the prospect of losing to her. I will never allow anyone to get the better of me again._

"She's doing this intentionally," Kirin muttered as he followed Ariana as they glided over the human hiking trail below. The irritating female was wearing one of Mozu's tunics but the way she wore it! His heart had nearly stopped at the sight of her. She'd cinched it with a colorful obi that accentuated her slim waist and tucked up the skirt so acres of sleekly muscled leg were showing. Poor Mozu had been left in a catatonic stupor. Kirin was simply trying to focus on flying and ignoring the persistent ache in his loins that hadn't troubled him for years.

She flipped her tail up as the wind shifted. Kirin whimpered under his breath. The first time she'd did it, he had nearly flown into a tree. On closer examination, he realized that she wasn't bare-bottomed; she was wearing tiny red underpants that matched that scandalous midriff top. Despite of the insult he'd delivered earlier, she was an attractive female. If she were anyone else, he would have caught up to her in mid-air and --

"Stop that," he muttered to himself. "Keep your mind on your duties." When they finished checking out the survey markers that Ariana had found, Kirin vowed to have a long talk with O-tama. The Tengu healer had been subtly mending the emotional wounds he'd suffered in Ishimura. At first, he'd been unaware that she'd been doing it but over time, he'd come to realize that O-tama's talks had not been without purpose. She had even encouraged the other females to tend to his more intimate needs, although he'd eventually tired of that and preferred now to be celibate.

Still, he admitted privately as he glanced at Ariana now gliding besides him with her pony-tailed hair flying like an ebon banner in the wind, he could understand why O-tama wanted Ariana to have a chaperone. If he was having these thoughts, he could only imagine what his students might be thinking. The Three had never been around a female of their own age before – Ariana would represent the ultimate temptation. He snorted ruefully – if there was trouble on the wing, it was the Timedancer's wayward daughter.

_In the course of checking out the survey markers that Ariana had found near the Tengumichi Path, we discovered a man planting strange devices in the ground. Ariana proposed a distraction by taking a joyride on his motorcycle but it only proved that the strange human was not working alone. Another one engaged Ariana in a dangerous motorcycle chase that twisted through the mountains like a snake. If Tancho had not caught sight of them, I would have not been able to overtake them in time. The foolish wench had the audacity to try to jump across a chasm using the vehicle's momentum combined with her own wingspan. It was a glorious yet foolhardy endeavor and the truly galling thing was how unrepentant the creature was about her behavior. She actually began to lecture me as if I had been the one acting recklessly! I had to put her into O-tama's charge before I did something regrettable to her._

"Who does she think she is?" Kirin muttered as he dropped the sake jars on his worktable. "How dare a hatchling half my age tell ME that I've forgotten what being a gargoyle is all about?" He tossed the Wariguri papers next to them and fetched a cup from the storage chest.

The audacity of the girl – didn't that slip of a female know how his heart had stopped when he saw her take that motorcycle across the ravine? His wings still burned from the exertion of catching up to her – it was no surprise that she'd overstretched herself. Kirin kicked over a cushion and flopped down in a huff. He unsealed a jar and poured himself a full cup of sake.

"Reckless wench! Not one word of thanks, not one!" He drained the cup in two swallows. "I shouldn't have bothered fixing her wing!" Refilling his cup, he slowed in his drinking as he smelled the faint trace of rose oil on his fingers. She'd been nestled against him while he'd been working on her. Eight long years had passed since he'd decided to be celibate among the Tengu. He closed his eyes and sighed bitterly as he rotated a shoulder.

"I'll be feeling this for a while, stone sleep or not -- first that fight and now this." She was a damned good fighter, he admitted grudgingly. He'd been holding back initially when they had fought earlier but by the end of it, he'd been battling full out just to match her. The only other female that had been able to give him a fight like that was – Kirin downed his drink in one gulp and reached for the bottle.

Some time later he became dimly aware that he had company. He glared across the table blearily. "What have I told you about sneaking up on me?"

"Not to contradict you, Master Kirin," long-nosed Takakura said with his head at a rakish tilt, "but you were looking straight at us when we walked in the door."

Tancho swung a string of jugs off his shoulder. "Besides," he said jovially, "we thought your wine jars must be getting empty by now."

Kirin gestured for them to sit. "So they are," he commented. "No doubt that wench has given you cause for drink as well." The youngest members of the Tengu had been his students for twenty years. Although they were considered adults, the Three still looked to him for guidance. Their companionship was a welcome distraction.

"Actually, Ariana was going over the menu for tomorrow's tea ceremony with O-tama and Miza." Mozu leaned in and sniffed, making a face at his brothers as the apprentice healer assessed their teacher's condition. "The food that they were making smelled very good. Why don't I go get some and we can have our meal here?"

"That's a great idea," Tancho agreed as he opened one of the jars and passed it to Takakura. "We'll stay here and keep Master Kirin company."

"I don't know what you're so upset about, sensei," Takakura commented, playing host as he poured sake for all of them. He was the undisputed leader of the Three, well aware of his own self-worth as Takamatsu's heir. Clever and devious, he knew just how to manipulate people. "She's just a female, after all, and not all that attractive."

"Hah!" Kirin snorted. "Are you blind? There's more to beauty than a perfect face! Did not the crimson fire in her eyes stir your blood?" He gave a low growl and tossed back his drink. "A female with spirit is worth more than all the complacent, biddable bedmates in the world."

"Her hair is pretty," Tancho said, settling down cross-legged on a cushion. "We were watching her comb it out after her bath." Since he had none of his own, he often admired long hair on others and as a hatchling used to beg for the honor of combing out Kirin's own tangled locks.

"Oh, yes!" Kirin sighed. "Beautiful, and slippery as silk."

Takakura laughed. "Just how much sake have you had, Master Kirin?"

"Not nearly enough!" He motioned at Takakura to fill his cup.

"I wonder how you kiss a girl with a beak," Tancho mused. "It must be awkward."

"Not so," Kirin answered. "It is a matter of patience and practice. Gargoyle beaks are not hard like bird beaks, Mozu can tell you." He squinted and looked around the schoolroom. "Mozu? Where is he?"

"He went off to get some food, sensei," Tancho replied. "You should really have something else in your stomach other than sake."

Kirin smiled drunkenly. "Beaked females are wonderful lovers," he mused as if he were thinking out loud. "Miza plays the most amazing jade flute. Exquisite." He gave a long humming sigh.

"'Jade flute?'" Takakura mouthed at Tancho.

Tancho answered by making a fist and thrusting it towards his mouth several times. He rolled his eyes expressively.

Takakura snorted and hid his laugh behind his hand. "That's very interesting," he commented. "Do you suppose Ari-_chan_ is musical as well?"

"Who can say?" Kirin shrugged, slopping sake over his hand. "She speaks excellent Japanese but she was raised in Manhattan, not Ishimura. I do not know what their ways are there." He smirked, narrowing his eyes. "I daresay that she could carry a tune. Most females can."

Footsteps approached and Mozu appeared in the doorway, carefully tapping his feet against the step to shake off any dirt from the path. He was carrying a tray with several covered dishes. "How is he?"

"Oh, sensei is in rare form tonight," Takakura said good-naturedly. "We've gone from depressed to lyrical and we're only on the second bottle."

Mozu gave their drunken teacher a baleful look. "Your second bottle, his fourth or possibly fifth," he murmured as he set the tray down. "He threw the empty ones out the window."

"A-ha!" Tancho dipped out some miso in a dish and neatly exchanged it for Kirin's cup. "Here, sensei – put a little of this in your stomach. Too much sake is bad for the digestion."

As Kirin slurped up the soup, Mozu leaned in and whispered to Takakura, "This is so unlike Master Kirin. Why do you suppose he's drinking like this?"

Takakura narrowed his eyes and looked down his long nose at their teacher. "I don't know," he said quietly. "He's kept away from the females for a long time now. That's the sort of thing that can affect a male, or so they say."

"I think," Mozu said in a hesitant whisper, "he admires her." When Takakura snorted, Mozu continued, "No, think of it! Did you not see how he was watching her on the practice field when she was going through the sword exercise?"

"Yeah, he's got a point," Tancho added, sliding over to join the conversation. "You didn't see the look sensei gave her during the fight, right before he threw her into the mud because he was turned away from you. He actually grinned – he seldom even smiles any more but when she drove him back with that crazy move of hers, he was having a good time."

"Maybe." Takakura frowned. "He was certainly being protective of her when we were out this evening -- perhaps because he is twice her age."

"She is a guest after all," Mozu said reasonably, still speaking in a low voice. "You said that she did some reckless things. I'm sure that he probably felt responsible for her and that's why he's upset."

"I think there's more to it than that, I wager." Tancho looked back over at their teacher and laughed. "Oh, this is good. Sensei is asleep in his soup."

Sure enough, Kirin's head was leaning against his arm as he slumped over the table. Mozu clicked his beak as he deftly moved the food and drink to the far side of the table and fetched a light blanket to drape over the sleeping gargoyle. "We'll let him rest a bit," he said, "before it's time for stone sleep." He shook his feathered head. "I wouldn't want to be sensei when he wakes up tomorrow night."

The sound of the raindrops drumming on the roof pounded like hammers on the inside of his throbbing skull. Kirin was having a miserable night and he had no one to blame but himself. He'd been grateful that the Three had taken him to a clearing not far from the schoolroom instead of their usual spot by the rookery. His first act upon waking was to heave up the sour sake left in his stomach. Alcohol was one of the few substances that didn't convert during stone sleep, a fact that he never seemed to be able to remember while he was consuming it. Soaking in the hot springs helped somewhat but it had left him chilled and shaking once he'd returned to his quarters. He'd asked Mozu to bring him something to ease the symptoms but that irritating creature had shown up in the apprentice healer's place.

Kirin glared at the intruder in his personal space. Ariana had been surprisingly contrite; after some initial bantering, she'd merely asked to stay and read while it was raining. He gave in with a poor grace under the guise of having to take O-tama's tonic and made a show of ignoring her. It irritated him that she seemed to take absolutely no notice.

As his headache eased and his stomach settled, Kirin's curiosity began to get the better of him and he couldn't help stealing the odd glance at her. Ariana had slowly shifted the cushions into a haphazard nest around her. She was twisted around on her side with her shoulders propped up on the pillows and her knees pointed towards the wall. It was a contorted pose more suited to a cat than a gargoyle and it made his back ache just looking at her

The intense concentration she was giving the book intrigued Kirin. Most of the Tengu were barely literate in Japanese, and except for his students, few of them ever read books. Ariana seemed to be enjoying herself -- every so often she would give a soft chuckle under her breath. She was so engrossed in her reading that he began to wonder what she thought of the book. After a while, he finally worked up the nerve to start a conversation. "You must like Brontë. You haven't said a word in over an hour."

"It's been years since I've read this one," she said absently. "Graeme and I were home-schooled. Our clan leader, Goliath, and his daughter Angela supervised our literature studies."

"Where in the story are you?"

"Jane and Mr. Rochester are flirting," Ariana said with a smirk. "I will never understand why he had to play games with her. It must be a Victorian thing."

"He was afraid," Kirin commented. He stared at the papers on the desk, trying to order his thoughts. Since the Three had left their schoolroom studies, he seldom had the chance to discuss literature. "Rochester was afraid of wanting something that he couldn't have so he kept trying to push her away."

"But why Jane? 'Small, plain, Quakerish Jane?'" She laughed as she rolled over and sat up to face him. "He could have kept the nutcase in the manor and stayed in London with the hot society chick."

"After a certain age, Ari-_chan_," Kirin said wryly as he resumed writing, "a male realizes that a mate's qualities as a companion are more important than transient things like sex appeal. Jane's intelligence, spirit and wit made her beautiful to Rochester."

"Yeah, right." Ariana shook her head and marked her place in the book with a leaf that had blown in through the door. "If he respected her, he would have been up front with her from the beginning." She carried it over to the table and began to dig through her backpack.

"He wanted a fresh start," Kirin countered. "Think of it, married all those years but no one to share his life. He saw the future in Jane because she knew nothing of his past." He gave a long huffing sigh that make his fish-like whiskers swing in circles over the table. Without meaning to, he was reminded all too well of his own loneliness. He'd always found a kindred spirit in the character of Mr. Rochester.

"Speaking of the past," Ariana asked, still sorting through her bag, "how's your head?"

"Better," he admitted. "O-tama makes very effective if nasty-tasting tonics." He scowled at the empty bottle on the corner of the table. "I should really have better sense than to drink like that."

"Why did you?" She sighed and looked down. "I can't help thinking that I had something to do with it."

"Why should you care?" he asked brusquely. "You hardly know me."

"Sometimes words hurt," she said simply. "I know how bad I feel when someone is careless enough to say something I might not want to hear, whether it's true or not." She sighed again and twisted her fingers. "I've never driven anyone to drink before and, well, it bothers me."

Kirin stared at her in disbelief. Everything about her spoke of her sincere regret – Ariana seemed genuinely contrite. He swallowed hard, barely wincing at the sour taste that the hangover cure had left in his mouth. It had been years since any female other than O-tama or Miza had been concerned over him. His heart flip-flopped in his chest. It was shocking to think that Ariana might actually care about him, especially after how ill-mannered and rude he'd been to her.

She tilted her head and looked back at him. "What?"

The kindness in her eyes was more than he could bear and he looked away in shame. "Nothing," he lied and he quickly steered the conversation away to safer topics by drawing her attention to the papers that they had taken from the survey crew. It was clear that the Wariguri company had a vested interest in the area. It was something that he and the Three should have noticed and it was disturbing to realize that Wariguri had been doing it under their noses for some time. When no comment from Ariana was forthcoming, he glanced over at her to discover her devouring something. "What are you eating?" he demanded indignantly.

Ariana twirled the cookie stick in her mouth around to the other side of her beak and slowly crunched it down. "Pocky."

Kirin's empty stomach growled in spite of itself. "Not… chocolate pocky?" He had been quite fond of the popular snack during his ronin years in Tokyo.

"Double chocolate. I'm starving – the tea hostess doesn't eat during the ceremony, you know." She glanced at him and her mouth quirked up as if she was trying hard not to laugh. It was then that Kirin realized that his lower lip was protruding. He probably looked like a begging dog. "Poor Kirin-_san_," she sighed artfully as she pulled another stick from the foil pouch that she had been hidden on her lap beneath the table's edge, "you've got a hangover. You probably wouldn't want any."

He whimpered before he could stop himself.

She licked some of the frosting off. "Mmmmm…. Yummy."

He drew himself up indignantly. "Heartless wench."

Munching, Ariana merely commented, "Funny, I wouldn't mind sharing if someone were to ask nicely."

Kirin growled, "Lady Ariana? May I please have some pocky?"

Slowly Ariana drew a chocolate-coated cookie stick out of the pouch and contemplated it briefly before handing it to him. It was just as good as Kirin remembered as he twirled it from one dangling barbel to the other, the creamy sweetness of the frosting yielding to the crisp, darker flavor of the cookie. He closed his eyes rapturously as he consumed the last of it and carefully licked his lips for the last miniscule specks.

Ariana shook her head. "Okay, now I know why you're always grumpy. You've got a sweet tooth!"

Shrugging, Kirin tried to put on a show of indifference but he couldn't help smiling self-consciously. Not that he would ever admit it, but chocolate was one of the things that he missed most living with the Tengu. He was surprised that she didn't tease him more; instead, she offered him another from the open pouch and set the pocky box on the table between them. Her demure manner was merely a cover as she made her next move and bribed him with a chocolate bar in order to use her computer. Privately, Kirin had been trying to figure out how to use the thing himself so he put up a gratuitous show of resistance while she used her powers of persuasion on him.

Meeting her brother via the internet was a startling revelation – Kirin had known that computers had advanced but to have video networking on such a small, handheld unit was astonishing! Graeme, after some initial brotherly posturing that Kirin understood entirely, turned out to be friendly and easy-going but it was clear to see that while Ariana was impulsive and adventuresome, he was studious and intellectual. Kirin liked him immediately. Graeme made quick work of some of the things that they'd found puzzling in the Wariguri papers and offered to do further research on his end, freeing them up to do their own websearch on the palmtop.

Intrigued, Kirin watched closely as Ariana opened a web browser and tapped in a search request. "Hmmm ..." she muttered, "Wariguri is into lots of stuff, it seems."

"Interesting." Shifting around for a better view, Kirin moved closer. Her long hair brushed the front of his robes. It had a light, fruity fragrance that smelled delicious but he forced himself to concentrate on the computer instead.

If she was disturbed by his proximity, Ariana's only reaction was to drape her wings over her elbows like a shawl to get them out of his way. Picking a file at random, she opened it but promptly pouted. "Oh, bother – it's in Japanese. I can't read this!"

"Luckily, I can," he commented. "Hold it still for a moment."

As Kirin leaned forward to read the computer screen, his barbels slid over her bare shoulder like a pair of skinny snakes. Ariana shuddered. "Eeeeuw, you're dangling on me."

"Sorry," Kirin said absently. He hooked first one, then the other barbel with his tongue and sucked them into his cheeks and upper lip with a long, drawn-out slurp. It was an old habit of his since childhood; Kirin hardly gave it a thought until Ariana gave a snorting chortle and collapsed in a fit of hysterics.

Blinking in disbelief, Kirin stared at the giggling gargoyle girl literally rolling on the schoolroom floor. The way Ariana threw back her head and laughed was utterly fascinating; Japanese gargoyles were quiet and reserved. Her laughter ranged from tittering giggles to gut-rending guffaws but throughout it all, there was an infectious joy that made him smile in spite of himself. "Weally, Awi-_chan_," he commented in a distorted voice, "id's nod dat funny."

"_Jalapeña!_" Ariana squealed. "Stop it! I'm dying here!" Her giggles turned into hiccups as she rocked back and forth on the floor, holding her ribs.

Spitting out his barbels, Kirin turned his head away from her but even he couldn't deny that his voice had sounded funny. He began to chuckle quietly and before he knew it, he found himself laughing with her, even as Ariana's laughs became punctuated with hiccups. Kirin felt like an errant schoolboy as he grinned shyly at her. It nearly made his heart stop to see her smile back at him, her hair scattered haphazardly on the floor as her giggles died down.

"Honestly," he chided in a curiously gentle tone, "we will never get anything done if we keep this up."

"Just keep hic your whiskers hic out of your mouth," she commented, "or I won't ever hic be able to hic stop."

_When it became apparent that Ariana's hiccups were not about to stop on their own, I sent her to see O-tama. The schoolroom seemed empty without her. I put away the little computer and straightened the room before I changed clothes. Her scent lingered on the pillows and cushions. Strange – I was so miserable before and yet after being with her for only a short while, my heart was light. Perhaps I was wrong about her – I decided that I should not let my prior experiences with females influence my opinions. Ariana was clearly not hatched from the same egg._

_We headed into __Kobe__ with the Three to check out the Wariguri offices. Their security system was formidable so the decision was made to swing by Green Stadium to see the remainder of the Blue Wave baseball game. On the way, Ariana chose to foil a robbery at a noodle shop – without consulting the rest of us – and in return, the shop owner gave her the bandits' own takeout order. It was a rash act done totally on impulse, but that only served to give the food extra zest. _

Leaning back against the ventilation unit, Kirin licked the last of the soy sauce off his fingertips. He scolded Ariana severely for her little side-trip to the noodle shop but even he had to admit that the owner's reward had been worth it. It had been ages since Kirin had had takeout food – normally, they filched it secondhand from people at campgrounds. He was still feeling his earlier hangover but the lemon soda had settled his stomach enough so that he could manage to eat his share of the udon noodles and cabbage pancakes.

Ariana was wedged between Mozu and Tancho at the roof's edge watching the Blue Wave game going on below. If there was one thing that she could have done to win over the Three, her overpowering enthusiasm for baseball was it. He, Makino, and Goro had been taking the three younger Tengu to this stadium and the one in Osaka for years. Some of the elders were aware of this blatant breech of clan law but had chosen to overlook it. Before flying had become too difficult for him, even Takamatsu himself had been known to join them for a ballgame or two.

A crack of the bat and Ariana was bouncing on her toes in excitement. Kirin couldn't help smiling at her; there was something infectious about the way she enjoyed life. Such passion! – Kirin closed his eyes and forced away those thoughts as his smile died. He had deliberately put some distance between himself and the younger gargoyles so that they could interact more freely with each other. His students never had the opportunity to be with females their own age and it had taken some time for them to work up the nerve to approach Ariana.

Takakura, of course, had tried to impress her with his high status in the clan and was still smarting from her lack of response. He was shooting jealous glares at his rookery brothers as Mozu pointed out something to Ariana on the field. Good-natured Tancho wasn't trying at all; not surprising, since Kirin knew that he was the only one that was sexually active. Many Japanese males experimented with manly love in their youth and Tancho was no exception, having become Goro's apprentice in more ways than one. It was only natural, however, for him to share his brothers' curiosity in their female guest. Kirin could tell that Ariana was more at ease with Tancho's camaraderie than with Takakura's arrogance.

Ariana looked back and grinned at him over her shoulder. Kirin nodded and smiled back, fighting the irrational surge of jealousy as action on the field made her seize Tancho's arm in excitement and squeal in girlish enthusiasm. She honestly didn't know how appealing she was. Kirin had known a number of females in his lifetime, some good, some bad, but it was a rare thing to find one who was so totally unaware of her own beauty.

It felt good to smile again.

****

**_To be continued in Part VI of "Ronin" ….._**


	6. Part VI

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly Towle appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

Author's Note: The next few chapters will overlap events that occurred in Tengu but will be presented from Kirin's POV.

****

**Part VI**

**_From the journal of _****_Kirin_****_, teacher and weapons master, formerly of Ishimura_**

**_Kobe_********_Japan_****_ --_********2015**

_I will remember that flight back from __Kobe__ for the rest of my life. Ariana – that irreverent, wild, incorrigible creature – she loved to read! I had been thinking that perhaps she'd only been reading Jane Eyre because it was one of the few English books in my collection. As it turned out, she had grown up with the large private library of her clan's benefactor, the multi-billionaire David Xanatos. We talked of books and authors and movies until I felt positively light-headed and giddy. I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed simply talking with someone who shared some of my interests._

_When my mood darkened at mention of returning to Ishimura, Ariana teased me into an exuberant dance across the skies. I was infuriated at first but then something came over me. The glow in her eyes enchanted me and I was lost. My blood was fire in my veins and once again I was a young warrior in flight._

_The problem was that neither was I young nor was I the only warrior with Ariana in my sights._

Like eagles in flight, they plummeted in freefall towards the ground. Ariana pulled out of her dive a few feet above it and skimmed over the long grasses, leaving a wedge-shaped trail in her wake. Kirin's momentum had him only a few body lengths behind her as they shot out back over the deep river gorge. Bright moonlight cast his shadow on the steep stone walls and Ariana took evasive action, pivoting on a wingtip and spinning around him.

"Ha!" she called out. "Saw you!"

"Two can play that game!" he retorted and executed his own tight turn. Together they wove an intricate pattern high in the Japanese sky, coming quite close to one another and spinning away at just the last second. The tips of their wings brushed like autumn leaves on the wind. Ariana's eyes dance as she sailed in towards Kirin and he matched her move as they both drifted down into the gorge like a pair of spiraling maple seeds.

"Why, Kirin-_san_," she said coyly, "Who would have guessed a bookworm like you could be so graceful?"

Kirin smiled and it was becoming more natural every time. "You'd be surprised," he replied. "I wasn't always a sour old persimmon, Ari-_chan_. I was young once."

"Oh, that…" Ariana laughed, ducking her head as if she were embarrassed. "You've grown on me since then."

"I'm glad," he answered in a low voice and held out his hand.

Her eyes grew luminous as she started to reach out towards him.

His heart skipped a beat.

And the prize was snatched from his grasp.

_I have never struck out at my students in anger. Perhaps a thump or two in the sparring ring but even then I kept a cool head. When Takakura intervened at that moment, however, I was nearly overtaken by a killing rage. Skydancing is the most innocent form of gargoyle flirting; the partners, for the most part, never touch but the thrill of the chase is similar to a mating flight. I remember all too well what that was and perhaps that is why I snapped – my blood was up and my heart was pounding and the way she had looked at me – _

_I had no right to feel this way._

_No right at all._

Ashamed of his irrational display of temper, Kirin returned to the schoolroom in a tempest of emotions that he'd thought long past. The surge of adrenaline in his veins forced him to pace restlessly as he tried to calm himself. The abrupt end of the evening was as great a shock as if someone had stuck a knife in his heart.

He flopped down on the cushions besides his precious books. Very few of the Tengu cared to learn anything about the human world so he'd often felt isolated among them. Even though Ariana's opinions were different, it had been delightful to talk with her -- so much so that he hadn't minded at all when she'd chose to lead him in a wild chase across the sky. It had been invigorating, intoxicating – he sighed as he hugged a pillow to his chest, breathing in her scent and wishing that their skydance had ended differently.

The floor creaked behind him. Kirin didn't need to look up – there was only one person in the village with a step that light. He put the pillow aside as if he'd only been straightening up. "I'm sorry, O-tama. I lost my temper."

"I do not blame you," the Tengu healer said as she settled herself down on a neighboring cushion, looking not unlike a silver-haired Buddha. "Takakura acted rashly. Hopefully this experience will teach him a thing or two."

"Did I hurt him?"

"He's got a nasty-looking scrape down his back and probably some bruises but he will be fine." O-tama paused and he suspected that she was probably giving him a long, soul-searching look. "Takamatsu told the Three that you were assigned to chaperone Ariana and that you were only doing your job. Ariana seemed disappointed."

Kirin closed his eyes and pressed his lips together tighter.

"Kirin-_san_, it is all right to let yourself feel something for her. This is not Ishimura; we Tengu often have mates from different generations."

It was an observation that O-tama had made before. The Tengu had adapted to accommodate a dwindling genetic base; unlike most gargoyle clans, mates were not strictly monogamous. No one had ever rebuked him for any of his trysts; in fact, the Tengu had been more disturbed by his vow of celibacy.

O-tama continued. "There is no shame in listening to your heart."

"But it is!" He bit out the words. "I can't do this any more, O-tama! I know this is your doing!"

"No one is forcing you to do anything, Kirin-_san_," O-tama replied gently. "You agreed to this task, and it has not been totally unpleasant, _neh_?"

"I cannot believe I did that to Tak," Kirin huffed, rattling his whiskers. "I am too old to have these feelings! She is too young for me to be acting this way!"

"Nonsense," O-tama commented. "You are a male in your prime, not a withered old elder. If anything, you are a moth to a flame."

"How so?" He turned his head and looked at her sharply.

"A moth is safe while it sits in the shadows," O-tama explained, "but a moth circling a flame, dancing in its radiance – that is when it is truly alive, when it is claiming that spark as its own."

"It is a dangerous dance," he observed. "It comes at too high a price. The moth may catch its wings on fire, especially if its wings have been singed before."

"Or it may become a phoenix and rise from the ashes."

They were silent and for several minutes, all that could be heard were the sounds of crickets and cicadas high up in the trees. Without saying it directly, O-tama was telling him that if he chose to pursue Ariana, no one would object. She was the only one that he had ever told about his past – his ex-mate and his sterility and all the deep-buried hurt he kept hidden from everyone else. O-tama knew how much he wanted a companion of his own, someone with similar interests with whom he could share his life with. Ariana could be that someone if only his pride would let him.

"I will give her this," Kirin admitted reluctantly. "She is infuriating, impulsive, generous to a fault," his voice dropped to a shaky hush, "but when I am with her, I no longer feel alone."

"Then that, Kirin-_san_, is a good thing." O-tama's skirts rustled and the wooden floor creaked as she stood up. "Tak is waiting to speak with you. I daresay Takamatsu has warmed his ears by now."

"I suppose there's no point in putting it off," he sighed. "Perhaps you should take Ari-_chan's_ bag – it might not be wise for me to do it."

"As you wish, Kirin-_san_." The floorboards creaked and moaned as the two gargoyles left the building.

Whenever Kirin needed to find the Three, all he had to do was to look up a tree. As hatchlings, they had built numerous tree dwellings but after they became adults, they decided that they deserved a place of their own. Takakura found the perfect spot high up in a narrow, deep canyon filled with a stand of tall trees. The original cave was no more than a fissure when they started but Tancho devised a way to carve out the inside of the bluff to form room-sized pockets. The three young males spent two years hammering away at the project, with the occasional assistance of some of the others. Kirin had been brought in for the finer woodworking when they began lining the floors and walls with cedar planks. They even went to the extent of adding windows and doors with sliding frames for the cold winter months. The end result was a comfortable hideaway hidden amongst the treetops with all the comforts of home.

"He may not want to see you," Mozu said as they soared up the mountain. He had been collecting provisions and reluctantly agreed to take Kirin with him. "You know how hot-headed Tak can be."

"I know," Kirin agreed. "I owe him an apology, nonetheless. It is the proper thing to do."

"He's still smarting from Takamatsu's lecture." Mozu sighed. He didn't need to elaborate; it was well known how highly Takakura regarded his father's approval. A cross word from Takamatsu carried more weight than the fiercest thrashing in the sparring ring.

"What did Takamatsu say to him or do you know?"

Shaking his head, Mozu made the slow turn into the narrow canyon. "He left the meeting hall without a word to anyone. Tancho figures this is where he was headed."

The steep glide down to their hideaway was tricky. They had carefully trimmed the branches of the trees nearest the granite bluff to form a leafy tunnel to their front door. Kirin had to tuck his wings slightly to make it into the opening, consequently increasing his descent. Smaller fliers like Mozu and Takakura had no problem but the bluff walls showed the deep scratches where Kirin and Tancho had made less successful attempts. Kirin only overshot the door by a few feet, rebounding off a tree to reach the entrance.

Takakura was scowling at Mozu across the low table in the center of the room. "Why did you bring him here?" The table was littered with papers but most of its surface was taken up with a road map of Japan held down on the corners with sake cups. Ever since he was old enough to sneak into the campgrounds, Takakura had filched a sizeable collection of maps from Japanese provinces to an Oklahoma state map from the United States. Kirin tended to overlook his petty larceny because it was an excellent opportunity to teach geography.

"I have come to apologize, Takakura-_san_," Kirin said simply. "I allowed emotions to cloud my judgment and you bore the brunt of it. It was wrong of me and I beg your forgiveness." He bowed low to Takakura in a show of humility.

"Is it true?" Takakura asked, not looking at him. "What Takamatsu said – that you were acting as her chaperone?"

"It was my duty to do so."

"Then why would she want to spend so much time with you?" His voice was harsh with accusation. "Whenever one of us wanted to be with her, she was always off with you!"

Kirin bristled. "Did any of you bother to talk to her? Did you find out what she likes and what she dislikes?" He snorted, swinging his barbels about. "I've seen how you've been acting – parading around like a peacock. A female likes to be valued for her mind as well as her body. Did you honestly think that Ariana would swoon just because you would rather flaunt your own qualities instead?"

"You talk as if you are courting her – are you?" Takakura demanded angrily, thrusting his chin out.

Kirin shook his head. "It would not matter."

"Why not?" Mozu asked. It was the first time he'd spoke up and they turned to look at him. "She likes you, you like her – why not?"

"I am too old to make a fitting match," Kirin said resignedly. "No one would approve."

"What's her favorite food?" Mozu asked suddenly.

"Her uncle Broadway's chocolate chip cookies."

"And her favorite color?"

"Blue." He couldn't help smiling a little. "Although I imagine that she looks good in anything."

"There!" Takakura reached out and smacked Mozu's shoulder. "Did you see, feather-head?"

"What?" Kirin scowled at them.

Mozu ruffled his plumed crest and laughed in his quiet way. "We were watching when you and Ariana were flying back from the city. The two of you were only talking but whatever it was about, everything she said made you smile. You do it more often than you think."

"We were only discussing books," Kirin said dismissively. "Her clan has access to a library so she's very well read." He paused for moment and a pensive look crossed his face. "I enjoy living here," he said slowly, "but sometimes, I miss things like that."

"We read books," Takakura said, nonplussed. "So what?"

"Only after I threatened you at knifepoint," Kirin countered. "I taught you how but none of you really reads unless it's necessary. It's different to read a book simply because you enjoy doing so." He smoothed out a wrinkle in the map, diverting their attention in order to change the topic. "I see your mind has gone wandering again, Tak. Where are you planning to go now?"

The long-nosed Tengu shrugged. "The elders are wrong to keep us here," he commented. "You should have heard Doryo droning on, that tired wheeze about how we should keep apart from the outside. If Ariana doesn't find us to her liking, why shouldn't we seek other females who do?" He idly traced the outline of the highway that ran around the southern coast of Japan. "The trip can't be that difficult if she did it."

"As I understand it," Kirin said wryly, "her brother packed her in a crate and mailed her to a train station in Osaka while she was in stone sleep." He leaned in, squinting at the map before pointing to a blue line. "I would ride on the roof of a night train. There are several that run between here and Tokyo. From there it's only a matter of flying overland to Ishimura."

Takakura traced the distance between Ishimura and Tokyo with a talon tip. "You wouldn't continue on with the train?"

"Going overland cuts time off the trip." Kirin shrugged. "It makes no difference to me as I'm unlikely to return there."

"How do you suppose Ariana is planning to return to Ishimura?" Mozu asked.

"I doubt she's thought that far," Kirin snorted. "Ari-_chan_ is all intuition and impulse. Still," he admitted, "she's resourceful enough to find her own way; I have no worries about that."

In truth, until Mozu had mentioned it, Kirin hadn't considered that Ariana would eventually leave them. On the night of her arrival that she told them that she was to return to Ishimura within a week. It hadn't bothered him at the time but now he found it troubled him more than he thought it would. He hid his reaction from Takakura and Mozu but it haunted him for the remainder of the night.

_One thing was clear to me – I have spent far too much time in Ariana's company. A little space between us would be wise and I suggested as much to Miza when I returned to the village. She gave me an inscrutable look over her cooking pots but merely agreed, saying that Bana had plans for something the following evening. Ariana's laughter floated towards us on the evening breeze and suddenly I couldn't bear for her to see me. Without another word, I collected my portion of the communal meal and fled to my quarters._

_Never before had the schoolroom seemed so empty. Only a few hours ago, it had warmth and life because she had been here with me. The book that Ariana was reading was still on the table and I picked it up. I found the place where she had left off and read a few paragraphs. Leafing through the book, the ill-fated wedding scene jumped out at me – Jane's shock was understandable but __Rochester__'s words echoed in my heart. He was trapped by his past just as I was and taking pen in hand, I let his words speak for me._

_The next night I kept my distance and watched as the females swept Ariana away in a giggling, tittering mass. I sent the Three off on patrol, saying that I wanted some time alone to meditate. My mind was too restless so I devoted myself to practicing with my swords instead. The physical and mental discipline of the exercise had nearly banished all thoughts of her when Ariana burst into the room. She was dressed in a kimono like a kabuki geisha complete with elaborate hair and makeup; apparently the others had been having fun at her expense. It took all my self-control not to laugh – poor Ariana! _

_I helped restore her to normal by removing Bana's elaborate hair ornaments and then offered her soap and water to remove the rice powder makeup on her face. I turned away and busied myself with my swords, assuming that she'd go behind the privacy screen to finish tidying up. Movement out of the corner of my eye threw my attention back. At first glance, she seemed to only be clad in her draped wings as she washed her face in the basin. Her eyes were closed but mine were memorizing each graceful movement as her hands dipped into the water, drifted over her face with sinuous motions of her fingers and returned down to complete the dance. _

_Ariana caught me looking and I attempted to defuse the situation by discussing my discovery of a new clue to our Wariguri investigation. As result, we soon found ourselves flying down to __Kobe__. She took my hand, saying that it had become habit, but I was grateful for the excuse. The fit of her hand in mine was becoming as familiar to me as a sword in a sheath; two separate things united in one purpose. I felt like a thief, stealing small bits of happiness for my own selfish needs._

_I could not help myself. _

It wasn't until her horn dug into his shoulder that Kirin realized that Ariana had fallen asleep. He rolled his eyes and started to protest but as he glanced down at her, it was as if he were seeing her for the first time -- the graceful torque of her body as she leaned against him, the delicate almond-shaped curve of her feathery eyelashes and the soft silkiness of her hair drifting along his arm. She seemed so small and fragile, an incongruity he knew, because she was a warrior of his own caliber.

Carefully he closed the palmtop and set it aside. Easing his arm around her, Kirin shifted Ariana so she fell more comfortably across his lap. He barely breathed as she stirred and nestled against his chest. His eyes watered. It had been years since he'd had any intimate encounters, not since the last ill-fated mating season, and longer still since any female had simply allowed him to hold her. It was an innocent pleasure that he'd long forgotten.

The wind shifted and there was a faint scent of ozone in the air. Nightly rain showers were the norm for this time of year. He unfolded his wings and stretched them over them both just in time for the first few drops. It was warm and dark inside the tent of his wings. He chewed on a barbel for a moment and then carefully rested his cheek just above her brow ridge. Mozu was right – Ariana did smell good. He could still catch a whiff of strawberries from her hair and the subtle scent of rose oil on her skin. The combined scent was intoxicating.

Once he had sat like this on guard duty with his former mate, both of them taking shelter beneath his wings. He remembered how deeply he'd loved Ikeike then, during their first few years of being mates. It had shocked him to the core when she'd demanded to break with him. Watching the mated pairs in the Tengu village only reminded him what he had lost and it only broke his heart further.

Mumbling, Ariana rubbed her cheek against him and her hand slipped down into the open neck of his tunic, brushing his chest. A lump in his throat threatened to choke him. Her touch was soft and warm against his skin, even with her fingers curled in slumber. It felt so good to be touched again. Ever since Ariana had first arrived, he'd fought the irresistible attraction he'd felt for her. No matter how rude or disrespectful he acted, no matter what mean thing he said or did, she refused to back down and met him head on. He had always been drawn to that kind of inner strength.

Ariana's wing slipped and, without thinking, Kirin reached down and carefully replaced it around her shoulders. She had tiny hands consisting of two fingers and thumb at the top of her wing spurs. A burnished silver ring adorned her index 'finger' and he mused over that little feminine touch. Ariana wasn't as big a tomboy as he had originally thought; she was neat in her dress and fastidious about her appearance. He smiled at how indignant she had been at the thought of the other females varnishing her hair as he fingered the shining strands with his free hand. Her hair was glorious – he'd acted as if it had been a chore but he'd loved having his hands in it as he'd freed her from the hair pins and combs. It flowed through his fingers like a lover's whisper.

"I wish things were different," he whispered hoarsely. "If I were younger, I would give you such a chase." He fought back the wave of sadness washing over him. He'd been praying for a mate for years – a soul mate and companion more than anything else. Ever since she had arrived, Ariana had filled his nights in a way that no one had in years. He felt… strangely whole when he was with her and that only made the situation worse.

"What am I thinking?" He closed his eyes and listened to the rain drumming on his wings. "If you truly knew me, you wouldn't want me."

_Eventually, we followed the humans back into the mountains where the Three intercepted us. It was a good thing that they did; Ariana had dozed off before but when she did it a second time, Mozu's instincts as a healer picked up what I had not – her blood sugar had dropped dangerously low. Flying expends energy at a great rate so gargoyles tend to have hearty appetites but it would seem that Ariana needed to eat more frequently. I cursed myself for flying her to __Kobe__ and back and for not noticing her distress sooner. Tancho produced some rice balls that served to revive her but something more substantial was needed._

_I love to fish – there is something about wading into a clear stream and letting your mind wander while you wait for just the right one that is healing to the soul. While I fished, Ariana surprised me again by building a small fire and heating a flat stone on which to cook our fish. I never expected her to help with the meal; Ikeike always expected me to do all the work and then complain when it was not to her liking. Despite a girlish aversion to cleaning fish, Ariana anticipated my actions and helped with the cooking. As I sat across the fire from her, it was easy to pretend we were a mated pair sharing a meal together. It was as if I was living out one of my fondest dreams._

_Perhaps that is why the invitation to the __hot springs__ sprang to my lips so readily. It had been years since I had taken a female there and then usually with only one purpose. I was determined to keep my distance but Ariana took it upon herself to test that resolve. She nearly turned me to stone when she came out and posed languidly against the massive granite boulder that divided the pool. All that preserved her modesty was her wing talons cupping her breasts and a pair of tiny red underpants. My silence flustered her and she covered up with her wings as she settled into the water. I managed to keep my voice level and to pretend that I was unaffected but I was far from that – her impulsive striptease was giving me ideas that I hadn't entertained in years._

Somehow, Kirin had lost control of the conversation. It had started innocently enough. One minute he was telling Ariana of his childhood in Ishimura and the next, he was revealing his deepest and darkest secrets. In all the time that Kirin had lived with the Tengu, only O-tama had learned his true story and that had been in tiny pieces over twenty years. As much as he desired her, it was a last ditch effort to scare Ariana off and he knew it. The words seem to spill out of his mouth as if they had a life of their own.

"I wanted her as my mate so badly that I would have done anything to win her." He allowed anger to seep into his words. "I gave up teaching for her. I fought my way up through the ranks to become a weapons master for her. I was so blind with love for her that I never saw that her ambitions came first – when I stopped being useful to her, she threw me away." His voice dropped. "Everything – all those years together, everything I did for her – she ripped out my heart and she left an empty hole!"

As soon as the words had left his lips, Kirin felt as exhausted as if he'd been fighting all night long. The deed was done – there was no way that any sensible female would want him now.

His fur-tipped tail twitched beneath the water, causing agitated ripples. Any minute now, Ariana would break the silence with those words that he dreaded and the pity in her voice would kill what little joy he'd gleaned from her companionship. The very thought made him sick to his stomach.

Ariana was quiet for a long time. Kirin could see by her reflection in the water that she was chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip. Any moment now, he braced himself for her reaction – but then she did what he least expected. Easing over to the very edge of her ledge, Ariana stretched out her hand like a lifeline.

He drew in his breath sharply and stared at her curved fingers in disbelief.

"It's okay," she said calmly. "I'm not that girl." Her words hit him like a cleansing blast of winter wind, stealing away his breath. Her low-pitched voice was soft and self-assured and utterly fearless. In a single, simple gesture, he knew that Ariana had the strength to accept him exactly as he was. He wanted to weep for joy and he trembled with the effort to hold his emotions in check.

His hand shook as their fingertips touched. His callused fingers slowly traced the curve of her thumb and the inside of her palm before accepting what was offered and folding his hand around hers. So small and delicate compared to his and yet so impossibly strong. "No, you're not," he said finally in a rough voice, "You are most unique, Ari-_chan_."

It was not what he really wanted to say.

_The conversation sailed into calmer waters as Ariana's questions led me into telling her in how I came to be with the Tengu. I found myself being curious about her romantic prospects and made light inquiries of my own. Ariana actually pulled away at that point and unwittingly gave me a glimpse of her pain. By the way that she constantly belittled her own appearance, I should have realized that there had been something deeper behind it. None of the males her own age had been able to see past her outer appearance to see her true beauty. She was just as lonely in her own way as I was in mine. _

"A fine pair we make," Kirin commented, shifting his wings and making the water ripple in widening circles. "Fate has played a cruel trick on us." He snorted. "Or on me, at least. You are not ugly, Ari-_chan_."

"Yes, I am!" Ariana retorted hotly. "I look like Dad in drag."

"Nonsense." He paused for a moment and considered his next words. Another loon called in the distance. "Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?"

She sighed. "All right, what?"

"Do you remember that first night? When you came to Tenjo Temple?"

"Yes?"

"I approached from downwind. We had seen you from the sky, perched on Tengu Rock, and I had fully intended to punish you for desecrating one of our most sacred landmarks."

"Like there was a sign on the thing saying 'Don't Sit Here.'"

"When I got within range, you were brushing your hair." His voice softened at the memory. "At the time, I thought it was incredibly irreverent but even then I must confess that I truly enjoyed watching you. Your hair became so very glossy, so much so that the moonlight seemed to dance upon it." He caught her pensive expression reflected on the water. "Your whole manner changed too. You sat very straight with your head tilted to one side. Your hands performed each stroke so gracefully." He sighed at the maudlin tone his conversation had taken. "You closed your eyes and I couldn't help noticing how long and feathery your eyelashes are. Brushing your hair is the only time I think that you're truly at peace with yourself."

"Why do you say that?"

Kirin laughed harshly, puffing out his upper lip. "You may not want me to say."

"Try me."

"Have you ever listened to yourself, Ari-_chan_? You hide your insecurities behind a façade of wisecracks and self-depreciating humor. How can you expect anyone to like you when you do not like yourself?"

"Why don't you follow your own advice?" she countered hotly. "It's clear you've been playing the wounded martyr so long that you're afraid to do anything else."

"See?" Kirin shot back. "Always the sharp retort, the witty comeback -- you'll grow bitter and lonely before your time if you keep that up."

"Sounds like a one man pity party to me," she retorted. "If you hadn't been hiding out here in the sticks all these years, you'd know that there have been a lot of scientific advances in genetics. My uncle Lex had a similar problem to yours and he's got an egg in the rookery now."

"How is this possible?"

"Look, where I live in Manhattan, Xanatos' science branch has been doing research on gargoyle reproduction since the mating flight of 2007. They've learned a lot about how we breed. The world council is anxious to spread gargoyle DNA around."

"But how did they help your uncle?" Kirin asked suspiciously. "I do not understand."

"Well, Lex was a special case. The council put him and his mate together because he's web-winged and she carries a recessive gene for it. They had a lot in common – they're both brainy computer nerds – but there was just never any real chemistry with each together." Ariana laughed ruefully. "As a species, we gargoyles are really screwed up when it comes to reproduction. There's a reason why two specific gargoyles are attracted to each other. Have you ever heard of pheromones?"

Kirin had to think for a moment. Science had never been one of his fortes but helping Mozu with his studies had kept him current on biology terms. "A chemical produced by an organism that signals its presence to other members of the same species?"

Leaning forward, she peered around the rock at him. "You ate a dictionary when you were young, didn't you?"

"I've always had excellent mnemonic recall."

"Well, what they found out was that pheromones play a major part in a gargoyle's breeding cycle. The male pheromones stimulate a female's reproductive system and the female pheromones increase sperm production. For some reason, Red Wind's scent wasn't revving Uncle Lex into overdrive so the scientists took samples of both their pheromones and tinkered with it until they found a scent that did."

Kirin found the way Ariana referred to the intimate details of mating in dry textbook terms disturbing but he was intrigued nonetheless. "This is all very interesting but how does that apply to me?"

"Don't you get it? A male that isn't properly stimulated has a very low sperm count. Unlike humans, male gargoyles are most fertile at the peak of the breeding cycle. Chances are you and your so-called mate weren't a compatible match. Something about her pheromones weren't working for you."

The implications rendered him speechless for a moment. "Then…" his breathing grew more excited as the realization began to set in, "…they wouldn't have known this when I was tested thirty years ago," he concluded. "There might be hope for me."

"Maybe." Ariana shrugged and sank into the water, causing ripples. "I'm no expert. You'd have to confer with the doctors at Ishimura to be sure. Xanatos has a couple of research scientists there now."

"It's something worth thinking about," Kirin mused. "_Domo arigato_, Ari-_chan_."

"So, um, is the other thing the guys told me about you true too?"

"I do not know, Ari-_chan_," Kirin replied cautiously. "What did they say?"

Ariana hesitated for a moment but then said in a rush, "They said sometimes the other females comfort you and that you're cheerful for days afterwards. Does that mean, um, everything works?" She stifled what sounded suspiciously like a nervous giggle.

Kirin's ears burned. "I'm going to kill Takakura," he growled under his breath.

"I didn't say that Tak said it."

"You didn't have to – the other two have better sense."

"Well? Is it true?" Her words rang out over the water.

"My blade is still sharp, if that's what you mean." He was both amused and flattered that she wanted to know. "Does that make you blush?"

Ariana replied airily, "Please, I'm red already. How could you possibly tell?"

Kirin swam back around the boulder to eye her speculatively. She refused to meet his gaze and he smiled knowingly. "Oh, yes… you're blushing."

"I am not!"

"Denial is an admission of guilt."

"You are so full of it," she shot back with her chin lifted, daring him to make something of it.

Calling her bluff, Kirin stepped closer, coming within arm's reach. Her wing talons twitched nervously as she wrapped her wings around her more tightly but her eyes glowed faintly in anticipation. She drew her lower lip through her teeth slowly and sighed softly. Carefully, he put a hand up on the boulder just over her left shoulder. Water dripped from his arm onto her coral-tinted skin as Ariana tilted her face up to his. He longed to answer the invitation in her eyes.

_The mood was set – but fate stepped in as an earthquake rumbled through the __Rokko__Mountains__. I scooped her up and took us airborne before the __hot springs__ could boil us alive. To my surprise, Ariana trembled in terror as clung to me – a traumatic memories of an earthquake experience in her childhood made her vulnerable. That only made me want to protect and to cherish her more. Even after the ground stopped shaking and we had landed, I did not want to let her go and neither, it seemed, did she._

_I knew that I should have kept my distance. I was the elder, the more responsible one but – to feel her arms holding me and to be cocooned in her wings! She was too innocent to know what an intimate gesture that was or how much it meant to have someone who knew the shame of my past and still wanted me. I had no doubts of that -- Ariana was the kind of female that knew what she wanted and went for it. She chose to be with me, as unworthy as I am, and who was I to refuse such a gift?_

_How can I possibly describe the sheer joy of feeling her talons raking down my back? Of feeling the goose bumps rise on her skin beneath my fingers? Or becoming drunk on the warm, rich scent of her hair? Just when I thought I would die a blissful death, Ariana sucked my barbels into her mouth. Most females consider them repulsive but if they only knew how sensitive my fish whiskers are – it was almost too much pleasure to bear. She could have persuaded me to do anything for her at that moment. _

_The village drums saved me from going too far. We rushed back to discover that Miza was trapped in the rookery and that the Ishigiri crew was causing the earthquakes with their equipment. Ariana tried to persuade the Tengu to come with her to confront the humans but __Takamatsu__ and the elders were against it. We all heard him tell her that if she went to confront the humans, she would not be allowed back among us but Ariana went without fear or hesitation. _

_I knew then that our time together was at an end._

Flying back into the Rokko Mountains was a tricky affair. Police and television station helicopters were still hovering around the campground where Ariana had confronted the Ishikiri crew. Kirin supposed that Ichiro Sohma was still there, seeing to Xanatech's interests, but he no longer cared. He circled around, gliding in low on silent wings. The Tengu would have retreated to one of their more hidden encampments farther up into the mountains but Kirin wasn't sure that he wanted to join them quite yet. An approaching helicopter forced him to take shelter and he spiraled down to the hot springs.

As soon as he touched down, Kirin knew it had been a mistake. He could still smell their scents lingering in the bowl-shaped ravine. Another helicopter flew over, this one with a bright spotlight mounted beneath. Sighing bitterly, he took cover under the spreading trees and found himself wandering up to the changing hut. Her scent lingered there and as he ducked his head through the open doorway, he learned why.

The little red underpants Ariana had worn to bathe in were hanging there on a peg. Without thinking, he reached out and gingerly took them between index finger and thumb. The soft cotton fabric was still damp from the mineral-rich water but it still carried her scent.

Rough cedar walls hit him between the shoulder blades as Kirin's knees went out from under him. "I didn't want you to go," he said hoarsely as he crumbled the tiny garment in his fist. "I… I…" A raw, racking sob came out of nowhere and for once, he didn't hide his pain. The intensity of his emotions grew so deep that words became meaningless.

He had only thought that standing before the Ishimuran council and hearing Ikeike declare that he was no longer fit to be her mate had been agony. As he had watched Ariana's train vanish into the night, his talons had left grooves in the brickwork, anchoring himself in place to keep himself from following. He had been dying to hold her but he knew that if he had, he would have never let her go.

Kirin looked at the delicate garment in his hand and guilty memories overwhelmed him. When the tremors had started earlier that evening, he'd taken her into his arms out of reflex. Ariana had clung to him in terror but all that he could remember was the way that her wet body had molded into his. He smiled because the rich heady aroma that she had left behind told him that she had been aroused too.

Shifting to a more comfortable position against the wall of the hut, he began to fantasize what it might have been like to have laid her on the soft moss besides the pool and to have made love to her. She was young and adventurous; she might have even forced him onto his back – Kirin smiled breathlessly. He'd always loved an assertive partner and Ariana was a headstrong wench. She wouldn't have been silent like the Tengu females. He'd always hated the way that his lovers would mate with him and then afterwards act as though nothing had ever happened. Ari-_chan_ would have cried out, shrieking her passion for all to hear and letting everyone know that he was loving her and loving her well.

Kirin stifled a raw sob and swallowed the roar of triumph he so desperately wanted to give voice to. He'd never wanted anything so much in his life that to have that fantasy made real, to be in her arms right then, breathless and spent. Instead, he was bitterly aware of being alone and of hating every moment.

"I am a coward and a fool," he said remorsefully. "Finally a chance at happiness but I was too fearful to seize it." He drew his hand into a fist, striking it against his thigh. "Damn you, Ikeike – do you see what you've done to me? I'm so afraid of losing at love that I'm not willing to even try! Well, no more! No more, do you hear me?"

Kirin remembered the way Ariana had reached out to him when he was at his lowest and the strength that she had unknowingly given him then. Opening his hand that she had held only hours before, he regarded it solemnly. "You gave me hope, Ari-_chan_," Kirin said softly. "How can I let that go without a fight?"

The approaching sunrise tingled in his blood. He turned his eyes to the eastern horizon and knew what he had to do.

The Tengu had moved their belongings to a sheltered encampment near one of their farm plots. There were many of these scattered throughout the mountains -- rice in the river bottoms, fruit orchards in secluded groves, grains and vegetables on high mountain meadows. Flying east from the abandoned village, Kirin found the clan a few miles further inland near Karasu's gardens. A bird-headed gargoyle like Takamatsu, Karasu was a stoic elder that preferred the Zen-like tranquility of his gardens to the bustle of village life. He had lost his mate in the Kobe earthquake of 1995 and since then only lived with the clan during the long winters.

When Kirin spiraled in, Karasu was bent over a garden row, harvesting greens with a short curved knife. He stood up, still slightly stooped, and nodded at the newcomer. "They're in there," Karasu said without preamble as he gestured towards a sprawling house twisting through an apricot grove. He accepted Kirin's bow with one of his own and returned to his work.

Kirin took no offense at the reclusive elder's behavior; he imagined that Karasu was simply overwhelmed by the sudden intrusion into his solitary life. By the sounds of the raised voices coming from within, this gathering of Tengu was not a sociable one.

"—and I say this," Takakura said hotly, "we disgraced ourselves by treating Lady Ariana in such a cowardly fashion! She risked her life to save our village and how did we repay her? By turning our backs and hiding in the shadows!"

Stopping just short of the open doorway, Kirin waited to hear the clan's response.

"Bah!" Doryo snorted derisively. "She was warned, more than once! She chose to spit on our customs, willful hatchling!"

"Ariana was not taught to hide in the dark when danger comes," Takakura snapped back. "Her clan lives side-by-side with humans, the way that Master Kirin's clan does in Ishimura," his voice rang out, "the way that our ancestors did in the days when the Tengu were warlords and advisors of kings!"

"Nonsense!"

Takakura refused to let Doryo get started on one of his tirades. "The humans have not forgotten us, did you know that? According to them, we are creatures of legend!" He crossed in front of the doorway as he worked the room. Kirin could see Takamatsu sitting cross-legged and watching his son intently. "When we were in Kobe, Ariana rushed to the aid of an old woman being robbed in her noodle shop. She took one look at us and was glad because the Tengu legend had been passed among her people. She thanked us," he pounded his chest with a hollow thump, "for saving her and it felt good to hear her do so."

"That is what it means to be a gargoyle," Kirin said quietly from the door as he leaned against the frame. "That is where Ariana found the strength to the right thing, even when it meant risking death or disapproval."

"Kirin-_san_!" O-tama called out, rising up slightly from her place next to Takamatsu. "We were worried when you didn't return before first light. Did you see Ari-_chan_ safely to the train?"

"Yes." He turned his face away so no one could see how much that one word cost him. "There were too many people around when I returned. I spent the day elsewhere."

"And… Ari-_chan_? Did you explain why--?"

"I didn't have to," he answered curtly, cutting her off. "She said that she was sorry to have caused so much trouble."

There was a restless stirring in the room. Takamatsu cleared his throat. "At the time, I thought expelling Ariana was the right thing to do, but now…" He paused thoughtfully. "…now I am not so sure. Much of what Takakura says has merit."

"Leader, no!" Doryo protested. "You were right to uphold our code!"

"And it is my right to decide when our code is holding us back!" Takamatsu retorted. "Perhaps she made some of you uncomfortable, but Ariana was right. We cannot hide from the world. The time has come when we must find our place in it."

A low rumble of protests came from the elders but Kirin barely noticed. There was a road map unfolded in the middle of the floor. He wondered where Ariana was at that moment and if she was thinking of him. It wasn't until he heard Takamatsu call his name that he realized that he was being spoken to.

"Our young warriors have informed us of their intention to travel to Ishimura for the Grand Miai, Kirin-_san_," Takamatsu said, silencing Doryo with his eyes. "We would welcome your counsel."

"If they wish to go," Kirin said slowly, "then they are welcome to accompany me."

"Kirin-_san_?" O-tama rose and crossed the room to him. "Do you mean to leave us?"

Softly, so only she could hear, Kirin murmured, "I cannot live without my heart, O-tama, and it is no longer here."

"Perhaps it is a sign," O-tama said gently, "a sign that it's time for you to return to the world." She reached up and ran her knuckles over his brow ridges. "You have given so much of yourself to us, Kirin-san. We will miss you."

"It is a fool's errand." He shrugged. "She may not want me."

"Let her decide that."

****

**_To be continued in Part VII of "Ronin" ….._**


	7. Part VII

**Ronin**

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly Towle appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

Author's Note: The next few chapters will overlap events that occurred in Tengu but will be presented from Kirin's POV. If you are interested in seeing illustrations and character studies from "Ronin" or "Tengu", please check out my Deviant Art gallery – mommyspike. VII

**Ishimura, 2015**

_After the decision was made, Takamatsu_ _and O-tama insisted that we postpone our departure for a few nights so that the Tengu could be represented properly. The last time that their clan had made an appearance in Ishimura, it had been as a bedraggled and war weary group of sick and injured gargoyles seeking sanctuary after the bombing at Nagasaki. Even though the current elders had only been children then, they still felt ashamed over that past encounter and nothing would do but to send us off in fine style. _

_Bana and Kiyo went through our wardrobes with a meticulous eye and organized the females in a frenzy of washing and mending. Takamatsu and Doryo prepared Takakura to represent the Tengu, coaching him on diplomatic overtures that they wanted him to make with Kai and any of the other clan representatives that might be there. O-tama insisted that we bring presents to give to Kai and Ariana and her parents and various other people. She would have loaded us down like pack mules if had I not put my foot down. _

_For my part, I packed only the things that mattered to me – my swords, my fishing net, and the journals that I have kept over the years. I rolled up my bedding and removed all traces of my presence from the schoolroom, storing what I could not carry in the strong room beneath the building. Perhaps another would take up teaching the next generation of Tengu but it would not be me. _

_My heart had another path for me._

Twenty-eight years had passed since Kirin had last seen the rolling green hills of Ishimura. The main compound had expanded beyond the castle and the adjoining temple, and the east tower, which had been a small structure in Kirin's day, was now doubled in size and width. Pavilions dotted the grounds and groups of gargoyles mingled freely with visiting humans. This alone astounded the Three; their eyes were as round as saucers as they circled in and landed just outside the main gate. Having changed into more appropriate attire at an ancient watchtower on the south side of the harbor, they took a moment to make themselves presentable before entering the clan compound.

"Was Ishimura always like this, sensei?" Mozu asked wonderingly. Miza had taken loving care when she had originally made Mozu's outfit for passing his adulthood trials. His black tunic compensated for his slight frame with wide padded shoulders trimmed with red cording and long sleeves in an elaborate red-and-black pattern that matched the black-tipping on the edges of his feathers.

"They've expanded a bit," Kirin commented, "but yes – humans and gargoyles have always co-existed here." He straightened out the fit of his formal kimono – black with flared shoulders and a graphic black diamond design on a slate blue band that draped over his left shoulder and came down to his knees. He pulled the tie from his hair and shook it loose. The light breeze coming in from the sea made his fine red-gold curls flicker like flames around his head. It had taken O-tama, Miza, and Bana working in shifts to get all the tangles and knots out of it -- Kirin's tortured scalp still ached with the memory of it. He'd had to keep it tightly coiled during their journey to keep from spoiling all their hard work.

"Why did you do that?" Takakura asked. He was dressed as a traditional Tengu of old, wearing a black tunic and leggings beneath a red haori embroidered with a pattern of gingko leaves. Instead of wearing a _yamabushi's_ black-lacquered cap, his dark hair was bound up in a modified samurai's knot. "Should I do it too?"

"No, you're here representing your clan. It's important that everyone recognizes your status," Kirin answered. "I cut off my top knot when I was last in Ishimura. Ronin I left and ronin I return."

Tancho chuckled softly. "Going for high drama, eh, sensei?" Unlike his rookery brothers, he was dressed simply in a sleeveless black tunic with a red sash and matching red headscarf. His shoulders were broad enough without enhancements and his only adornments were several strands of polished prayer beads and broad black leather gauntlets.

"It certainly couldn't hurt." Kirin gave a cool lift of his brows. "Stay close and follow my lead. We may be challenged but if so, let me handle it."

His words had a bravado that hid Kirin's own nervousness. The last time that he passed beneath the ceremonial gate that marked the border of the clan compound, he'd been at one of the lowest points in his life. Ikeike and her friends had been clustered beneath it like a flock of malicious hens, tittering behind their hands. There had been talk of not allowing him to leave with his swords because they had traditionally belonged to the clan but Kai and Setsu had vocal in defending his right to carry them. The clan had reluctantly accepted Kai's decision but an ugly crowd had been there to watch his departure. The memory made him tighten his grip on the hilt of his tachi. He was wearing it openly, tied to his belt with elaborate knots. His other swords were either tucked in his sash or concealed in his clothing, a habit he'd picked up in his wandering years.

A human in a constable's uniform was standing at attention on the village side of the gate. It was tradition to have both humans and gargoyles share guard duty at the gate. Kirin didn't see his gargoyle counterpart but assumed one was nearby. As they approached, the human began to glance nervously around as if looking for someone. Finally, he spoke into the radio on his shoulder and strode out into the center of the road to meet them.

"Welcome, visitors," he called out. "I am Constable Omi. Ishimura welcomes you!"

Kirin returned the policeman's bow politely. "If you will pardon me saying so, the Constable Omi that I knew when I was last here was much older. There is a similarity -- have you somehow grown younger instead?" he asked, hoping humor would ease the awkwardness of the situation.

The young man grinned and bowed again. "Ah, you knew my grandfather Hiroshi-_san_! He retired some years ago but he helped me get this post. I am Omi Makoto -- I grew up in Sendai City but I visited here nearly every summer."

"Please give my regards to your honorable grandfather," Kirin replied. "He was a great help to me many years back." He bowed again, deeper this time to show more respect. "I am Weaponsmaster Kirin and I have brought a delegation from the Tengu clan."

"Allow me to call ahead and notify Taiju," Makoto said politely. "He's in charge of the security arrangements."

"Is Kai available?"

"He is in the main hall, meeting with the delegates from other clans," Makoto answered as he reached for his radio. "I am sure that he will be notified of your arrival." He turned his head and spoke into the transceiver on his shoulder. "This is the main gate. We have new visitors." He paused a moment to listen to his earpiece. "Ah, very good. I will tell them." Makoto turned back towards them. "It will just be a few moments, honored guests. Since we have so many visitors, Taiju likes to meet each party personally as they come in and register them on the guest list."

"That is most courteous of him," Kirin said, to reassure the Three as well as to make conversation. "Ishimura has always been well-known for its generous hospitality. I am glad to see this has not changed."

A medium-sized gargoyle trotted up. He was dark green with a double row of ridges running the length of his scalp in lieu of hair. Regarding them suspiciously beneath heavy brows, he snapped, "Makoto, why do they still have their weapons? You know you're to confiscate them before they can be allowed in."

"Just a moment, Anzu," Makoto said, raising his hand to his ear. "Taiju is on his way here."

"We can handle this on our own," Anzu said. He turned to the visitors and made a shallow bow. "Ishimura welcomes you but before you enter the grounds, I must insist that you leave your weapons behind."

Kirin bowed subtly to show his displeasure but he doubted that it would make much impression on Anzu. The gargoyle sentry did not seem to have his human partner's common sense. "You are welcome to try, but my swords are a mark of my status as weaponsmaster. I will, however, give you my word that they will remain sheathed for the duration of our visit."

Appalled at his partner's lack of diplomacy, Makoto hissed, "This is Kirin, the one that went ronin years ago. My grandfather told me about him – he was trained by Setsu himself. He's supposed to be better with a blade than Kusa!"

"The rules are the rules!" Anzu hissed back. When Kirin started to pass by, Anzu thrust out his arm to block him. "Please, I must insist –"

"Are my swords worth your life?" Kirin gazed at him coolly. Behind him, the Three dropped back in defensive stances. Their weapons were carefully concealed but should the need arise, they were prepared to back him up. An audience of humans and gargoyles was beginning to gather.

An orange-skinned male with long, curving horns and dark hair tied in a topknot swooped down and landed, clouds of dust rising at his feet. He was broad-chested and wore a striped garment not unlike short _hakama_ trousers. "All right, what's going on here—" His words drifted off as he took a good look at the newcomers. "No… it can't be! Kirin? Is it you?"

"Taiju!" Kirin held out his right hand and clasped wrists with him. "It is good to see you, brother."

"And I, you!" Taiju nodded at Makoto. "Please notify Kai that his presence is needed at the gate. Tell him the one he has been expecting has arrived."

"At once, Taiju-_san_!" Makoto seemed relieved to have something useful to do. "Meanwhile could you possibly clear up a small matter of protocol for us? There has been some confusion about our orders."

"Yes, this one seems overly concerned about my swords." Kirin rolled his eyes slowly towards Anzu. "Perhaps you can straighten out this nonsense, _neh_?"

"I'm only enforcing the rules set down by the Grand Miai committee," protested Anzu stubbornly. "They were very clear about no weapons inside the compound – why should we make an exception in this case?"

"Yes, Anzu, I realize that they put in the 'no weapons' clause for the safety of the guests," Taiju said calmly, "but we must also respect a weaponsmaster's right to carry his swords." He turned back to Kirin. "You know how young warriors are when they're competing with each other for the favor of a pretty female. One cross word, a couple of hot tempers and we're mopping blood off the floor."

"I can assure you that will not happen with Master Kirin," Takakura said, drawing himself up regally. "The dead do not bleed." Tancho stifled a laugh behind them by pretending to clear his throat. Mozu busied himself with examining a flowering shrub by the gate. They knew perfectly well what Kirin's main purpose was in journeying to Ishimura.

Fortunately, the joke went over Taiju's head as he shared a commiserating look with Kirin. "Your students?" he inquired. "We had heard that you had been teaching again."

"Yes, they were running wild when I came to live with the Tengu." Kirin raised an eyebrow at Takakura who returned the look with a small smirk on his lips. "I've tamed them somewhat but they're still rough around the edges."

Taiju chuckled. "You see, Anzu? His students have come for the Grand Miai. Kirin is here as here as their chaperone."

"But the committee said – "

"Can it be?" Before anyone else could speak, a boisterous voice called out over the heads of the crowd. "Kirin-_san_? Brother, is that you?" A tall grey-green male gargoyle in elaborate crimson robes pushed his way through and grinned breathlessly at them. "Sakaki will be so pleased! We were hoping you would come back!"

"Kai-_sama_," Anzu protested weakly, realizing that his objections had put him in a precarious position. "He has been unwilling to give up his swords!"

Kirin raised one eyebrow. "I have already vowed to keep them sheathed. Is my word worth nothing?"

"It is all right, Anzu – I will vouch for him." Clapping his gargoyle sentry on the shoulder, Kai stepped past him towards the new arrivals. "Kirin has always kept his word with me and I with him."

"Kai-_sama_," Kirin said formally, bending in a deep bow. "As weapons master and sensei of the Tengu, I humbly ask that my students and I be allowed to participate in your Grand Miai." The Three followed his cue and bowed as well.

"Be welcome, Kirin-_san_," Kai replied in the same formal tones as he returned the bow. "It has been too long since our two clans have met. How did you hear of our gathering of young warriors?"

"A visitor came to our village not long ago," Kirin said, lifting his head. "She was bold enough to shake our elders from their distrust of the outside world." He scanned the crowd with growing anxiety. "I do not see her – did Lady Ariana arrive safely? We did not pass her on our way."

"Do not worry," Kai answered beneficently. "She arrived safe and well. Lady Sata has Ariana performing the tea ceremony tonight. She spoke highly of the warm welcome that she had among the Tengu and it is only proper that we return your hospitality. You and your students are free to enjoy the Grand Miai." He came forward and embraced Kirin heartily, thumping his back. "Welcome home, brother! It is so good to see you after all these years!"

"And you as well, Kai-_sama_," Kirin replied, once he could breathe again. "I took the liberty of leaving our things at the watchtower on the south shore. My students are unaccustomed to crowds. I thought to acclimatize them gradually."

"Feel free to stay at the watchtower for as long as you like, brother," Kai answered. "No one is occupying it at present." He looked Kirin over carefully. "You look well – the years have been kind to you. Your hair is lighter now but otherwise you look as if you have hardly aged at all!"

"The Tengu have taken good care of me since I have been in their service."

Kai laughed and clasped Kirin's shoulder. "We were astounded to hear you were teaching again. I guess you couldn't keep away, could you?"

"Once a teacher, always a teacher." Kirin turned to his students. "May I present Takakura, son of Takamatsu, hereditary leader of the Tengu, and his rookery brothers, Tancho and Mozu. There had been talk of letting them journey to Ishimura for some time. Lady Ariana arrived at a very auspicious moment."

"Ah! He who was leader before me spoke of meeting Takamatsu," Kai said as he greeted Takakura with the formal wrist grasp between equals. "I was hoping to re-new ties with the Tengu during my tenure."

"As does Takamatsu as well," Takakura answered smoothly. "My father has authorized me to speak for him in such matters," he glanced at Kirin, "with Master Kirin's counsel, of course." It was cleverly done – admitting both his youth and his willingness to be advised by an older gargoyle would help Takakura make the right impression.

"As it so happens, many of the clans sent along older gargoyles to be their representatives here. We will be having a council of leaders later in the week – you would be welcome to join us. But for now be welcome, young warriors, and enjoy yourselves," Kai said as he searched the crowd and caught the attention of a young gargoyle who hurried over at his gesture. "This is Toshi, journeyman healer," he told them by way of introduction. "I know that the younger crowd has an informal gathering planned for this evening. Toshi, will you escort our young Tengu guests and help them get acquainted?"

"Of course, Kai-_sama_," Toshi answered pleasantly. He was a teal-colored male of average height with a unique three-pointed crest on his forehead. His glossy blue-black hair was bound with a tooled metal clip at the base of his neck. "This will even things up nicely." He winked at his Tengu peers. "More girls showed up than expected."

"Excellent!" Takakura cast a cautious look at Kirin. "Sensei?"

Kirin nodded. "Go on," he said wryly, "and mind your manners." He chuckled as his students eagerly followed Toshi into the compound. "They are in for a shock. Not all females are like Ari-_chan_."

"Very well put, brother! We were all stunned to learn that she had gone off in search of the Tengu and even more amazed when she found them." He ushered Kirin out into the main courtyard. "To tell the truth, her parents have been worried about her since she returned here."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Sata tells me that Ariana has been withdrawn and moody. Her adventures were the talk of the younger crowd but she doesn't seem very enthused about all the attention. You would think that she would be enjoying it." Kai raised a brow ridge. "Tell me, Kirin – did anything happen to her while she was with the Tengu? Something that perhaps she might not want to tell her family?"

Kirin bristled at the implications but kept his voice calm. "The Three were, of course, very interested in her," he replied smoothly, "but we were careful to chaperone her at all times. The clan healer, O-tama, kept an eye on her when she was in camp but I was with her when we flew patrols. When Takamatsu realized that she was Lady Sata's daughter, it was imperative to us to keep Ariana safe. I put her on the train myself when she left us." He frowned at the bittersweet memory. "I was not pleased about it but she insisted on making her own way back."

"I see." Kai frowned. "Perhaps she had trouble on the return trip then, while she was traveling alone."

"I should like to see her," Kirin said. "We only made the decision to come after she had already left. The surprise might cheer her up." He laughed ruefully. "Besides, she left several items behind that are taking up space in my pack."

"I was going to suggest having dinner with Sakaki but since she is busy with the hatchlings, visiting Ariana might be a good way to pass the time." Kai nodded his head towards a couple ahead of them that were entering the gardens. "There is Sata and Brooklyn – perhaps they would like to join us for tea?"

"Yes, I would enjoy that very much," Kirin replied. "Ariana spoke of them often." He turned his face into a polite mask to hide his own internal panic; he had not anticipated meeting Ariana's parents prior to making his intentions known to Ariana herself.

Having seen drawings of the legendary Ancestress of Ishimura before, Kirin knew what to expect but meeting her in person left him stunned; Sata was a work of art from her flawless jade skin to her glossy dark hair. Dressed elegantly in a burgundy kimono with burnished gold chrysanthemums blooming all around the hem, Sata had passed on much of her beauty and poise to her daughter. The simple way that Sata held herself – calmly with quiet dignity while still maintaining a keen awareness of her surroundings – reminded Kirin so much of Ariana that it made his heart ache.

Her mate, Brooklyn, was dressed in a dark kimono-style tunic that seemed out of place on him. Where Ariana's beaked features were smooth and curvaceous, Brooklyn's were rough-hewn and weathered but there was no mistaking the strong resemblance between father and daughter. He was keeping a wary eye on them as they approached.

"My long-lost clansman has returned home!" Kai called out. "Do you suppose there is a room free at the tea house to properly welcome him back?"

"It is entirely possible, Kai-_san_," the green female replied. "Ariana and Midori are working the rooms in shifts with some of the younger girls to help them." She smiled and bowed in greeting. "We have also recently returned to Ishimura. I am Sata and this is my mate, Brooklyn."

"Honored Ancestress!" Kirin bowed deeply and respectfully. "I am unworthy to be in your presence."

"Please," Sata said with a graceful wave of her hand, "I've had my fill of _kami_ worship."

Behind her, Brooklyn rolled his eyes dramatically.

Sata raised one brow ridge. "I saw that."

"What?" Brooklyn radiated innocence so blatantly that Kirin knew in an instant where Ariana got her dramatic tendencies from. "I didn't say a word."

"You didn't need to." Her eyes were narrowed but a laugh was dancing about the corners of her mouth. Brooklyn merely smiled and nuzzled her cheek.

"Are they always like this?" Kirin asked the Ishimuran leader.

Kai laughed. "Yes, I'm afraid that Sata and Brooklyn bicker like any other mated couple. Realizing one's revered ancestor is normal takes some getting used to."

Brooklyn started laughing and between one breath and the next, they were all laughing at Kai's joke, even Sata who hid her amusement in a lady-like fashion behind her draped sleeve. They continued on into the gardens, occasionally running into people Kirin recognized like Master Kado, who was making his rounds with an orange-skinned beaked gargoyle that Kirin assumed was his assistant. He made a mental note to visit the Ishimura healer later but his thoughts were all focused on Ariana.

Every waking moment on the long journey to Ishimura, Kirin had kept trying to think of just the right way to tell Ariana how he felt about her. If she were any other female, he would have flattered her with pretty words until he achieved his goal; however, something Ariana had said kept coming back to him. She had commented that if Rochester had respected Jane, he would have been honest with her from the beginning. Even though Ariana was young, he had no doubts that she'd see right through him if he tried to fool her. The truth was that Kirin was tired of holding back his feelings as bushido demanded; he longed for the freedom that her love offered.

"Here we are." Kai's voice woke Kirin from his dark thoughts. "I'll just go up and see if a room is available, shall I?"

Numbly, Kirin followed Brooklyn and Sata up the teahouse steps.

A robed figure appeared in the doorway, backlit by the warm, inviting glow of the room beyond. For a moment, Kirin didn't realize who she was until she straightened up from bowing and turned to reveal a familiar beaked profile. His mouth went dry and the conversation around him seemed dim and faraway. Kai went up to speak to Ariana and unwittingly hid Kirin from view as he followed the others up the steps to the tea house.

Sata's voice cut through the fog in his head. "Please enter, noble guest; this _chaji _is in your honor."

Heart pounding in his ears, Kirin crossed the threshold. Ariana had been beautiful before but elegantly coiffed and ladylike in a traditional kimono, she was breathtaking. Her robes were a midnight blue decorated with an ocean scene from a classic Japanese block print. Subtle color shimmered around her eyes and long silky tassels framed her face instead of her familiar boyish braids. Ariana trembled slightly as she stood there, her eyes wide with shock and wonder as she stared back at him. He longed to reach out and comfort her. Instead, he summoned all his self-discipline and bowed from a safe distance.

"Lady Ariana," he said, careful not to show undue emotion, "It is good to see you again. How very lovely you look tonight."

"You are very kind, Kirin-_san_," Ariana answered, "but it's just some old thing that I threw on." She recovered from the surprise of seeing him again with a tart comment. "I see someone finally took a comb to that rat's nest of yours."

Kirin rolled his eyes up to the wispy locks that were floating over his brow ridges. "Yes," he drawled out testily, "and it was very painful." He paused and looked into her eyes; they were as bright and shining as they had been at the hot springs. "Does this please you?" He lifted his eyebrows minutely and hoped that she'd pick up on the question behind the question – _Are you glad to see me? _

The warm glow in her eyes answered him before her words did. "Yes," Ariana replied coyly, "it does." She gave him a ghost of a smile before ushering them inside like a demure and proper tea hostess.

His first impulse would have been to take her into his arms but the presence of Kai and her parents prevented him from doing anything rash. Brooklyn and Sata were interested in hearing about the Tengu village and Ariana's adventures there. Kirin tried to focus on the conversation but he couldn't help watching Ariana out of the corner of his eye. More than once he caught her smiling for no apparent reason. Her fingers lingered over his as she presented him with the _matcha_ in the ceremonial tea bowl. For a moment as Kirin sipped the thick bitter tea, it was as if she was performing the _chaji_ just for him.

Another young female entered with a tray of sweets to mark the end of the _matcha_ course and assisted Ariana in the preparation of the _usa_ _cha_ or thin tea. She reminded Kirin uncomfortably of his former mate; there was a close resemblance in the curve of her pronged horns and the shape of her face. Kirin recalled that Ikeike had been the first of her parents' progeny and no doubt this was simply a younger sibling.

Kai noticed his discomfort. "Kirin-_san_," he said as he gestured to the newcomer, "this is Midori, who is also serving in the tea house for the evening." He smiled indulgently at her. "Her regular duty is as a _miko_ in the temple."

"Then perhaps I will see her there," Kirin replied. "I must make my respects to my ancestors while I am here."

"You see," Kai explained, "my brother has a fondness for temples. When he was wandering, he turned up in some photos of a temple in Kyoto. It was the only way that we knew that he was still alive." The Ishimuran leader gave Kirin a playfully stern look. "It wouldn't have killed you to pick up a phone now and then."

"I was occupied with religion then," Kirin said dismissively. He turned back to Sata and Brooklyn. "I began by visiting famous places that I'd only read about and one place led another and then another. Do you not find that once you start traveling, it only makes you want to see what else is beyond the horizon?"

Brooklyn laughed. "When I first started time-dancing, I thought it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me but then," he glanced fondly at Sata, "it turned into the best thing. I wouldn't change a minute of it."

"As would I," Sata agreed. "However, it would seem to have been a bad influence on our children." Ariana shot her mother a baleful look but as she was in the process of pouring, she said nothing.

"Not so," Kai said diplomatically, "if your daughter had not traveled to Osaka, then I would not be welcoming my wayward brother back home tonight!" He raised his tea bowl. "_Domo arigatou gozaimasu_, Ari-chan! I will always be in your debt."

The remainder of the tea ceremony passed quickly with pleasant conversation and all too soon, it was over. Ariana ushered them to the door and waited patiently as they went down the garden path. Her role of tea hostess didn't allow her to leave with them and Kirin could sense a certain tension in her smile as she watched them leave.

"If you will excuse us," Sata said with a polite bow as they came out of the gardens, "I have promised to meet with Red Wind and some of females from the Chinese clan." She glanced at Brooklyn indulgently. "And my mate is dying to get out of his formal wear before he explodes."

"Hey, I may be a world traveler but I'm still a loincloth-wearing barbarian at heart." Brooklyn shrugged as he took Sata's arm. "See you guys around."

"Yes, come by the main hall later and we'll share some sake!" Kai said as he waved them off. "You will come too, eh, Kirin-_san_? It has been a long time since we shared a wine barrel together."

"Actually," Kirin said, choosing his words carefully, "I think I'd like to go back and talk to Ariana for a moment, while I'm thinking of it and I know where she is. O-tama will skin me if I don't hand over her things in a timely manner."

"O-tama?"

"The Tengu healer – she's a lot like Miya." Kirin gave a snorting laugh. "She's a little thing with a withered wing but I don't want to be on her bad side. She's got a grip like a steel vise."

Kai gave him an odd look. "Surely this errand could wait until another night? I thought we could go surprise Sakaki – she is teaching this evening."

"If you bring me into the rookery where Sakaki has no doubt had her tunic smeared with sticky handprints and her wits frazzled with endless questions, she might be surprised but she would never let you hear the end of it!"

"Hmm…." Kai considered this. "You may have a point there. Sakaki would be much happier if she has a chance to freshen up a bit before she sees you."

"Let me speak to Ariana for a moment and," Kirin nodded towards a brightly lit pavilion where many younger gargoyles were congregating, "perhaps check on the Three and then I will be free for the rest of the evening."

"Done." Kai grinned and grasped wrists with Kirin again. "It is so good to have you home!"

By the time Kirin re-traced his steps to the teahouse, he felt hot and overdressed in his formal robes. Pulling nervously at the neck of his kimono, Kirin waited below in the gardens where he could keep an eye on the teahouse. The other hostess appeared briefly at the window and turned away to speak to someone in the room. He was both impatient and reluctant to be alone with Ariana; he had no idea what he was going to say to her or how she might react.

"Get a hold of yourself, fool!" Kirin muttered to himself. "The way you're carrying on, you'd think you were a hatchling fresh out of the rookery!"

The faint sound of talons on wood announced her arrival. Ariana was stepping daintily down the tea house steps, carefully lifting the hem of her embroidered skirt. Anxiously, he strode down the path to meet her.

_We met beneath an ornamental maple tree, both of us unable to speak – all I could do was to stare at her breathlessly, drinking her in. Her long sweeping sleeves quivered in the evening breeze. Ariana broke the silence with some flippant comment but I barely heard her. I had been aching to kiss her ever since the moment I saw her and the tilt of her head was angled so perfectly that I couldn't stop myself. Her lips tasted of tea and honey cakes and her heart beat like a dove's wings against my chest. _

_As our kiss deepened, the difference in our ages drifted away like the last rays of the setting sun. There would be consequences but for now, they were faraway and insignificant as Ariana melted into my arms. What she lacked in experience, she more than made up for with a passion that answered all my unspoken questions. She had missed me, missed me as profoundly as I had missed her and only love could cause such exquisite pain. The hole in my heart was filled with hope and I wanted stay in her embrace forever._

_It was the perfect moment that one often dreams of but never obtains._

**The End.**

_**Worried? Wondering what happens next?**_

_**Kirin and Ariana's story continues in "Koiji."**_


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